Posts tagged 'Max Hattler'

X

Right out of the gate I was enamored with the aesthetic; it evokes movies like Tron and WarGames which – whether they hold up now or not – were seen in the brain-like-a-sponge days of my childhood and, as a result, a welcome flutter of warm nostalgia cascaded through my brain.

About a minute in though my interest started to wane; when were things going to pick up? I was a bit bored and having trouble understanding what this whole thing was about but, since Max made it, I stayed locked in (and am glad I did).

I build systems all day and, before construction actually starts, I first have to understand what I’m building and why it’s worth the effort. Usually there’s some kind of raw, chaotic element that, if thoughtfully reconfigured, can transform an unwelcome existing reality into a new, useful one.

I’m typically dealing with reams of unstructured data and have found that, more often than not, a wise first step in the process of turning chaos into order is forcing oneself to slow-down and observe. So that’s exactly what I did.

What are these shapes? Why do they move as they do? What causes the connecting lines to appear? Were they always there or do they spring from nothing when another form is close? What causes them to go away? Are they artifacts of communication or some abstract representation of relationship (or neither)?  Why do some shapes leave the frame while others combine or split or shrink down to nothing or…

...then it was over and I longed to see more. I wanted to live in that neon-and-artificial-yet-strangely-organic-and-alive world for a bit longer to see where things went. I couldn’t make sense of it at first but felt that if I kept watching some hidden, important meaning would eventually present itself.

As mentioned above, the talented Max Hattler directed the attached with some animation assistance from Matt Abbiss, Tony Comley, Valeria Fonseca, Siobhan Mcelhinney and Luiz Stockler.

ENJOY!

P.S. If you haven’t seen (or seen-in-a-while) Max’s excellent Sync I suggest you do; it’s SUPER trippy.

[ X (by Max Hattler) - Festival Version ]

Sync

“The film is based on the idea that there is an underlying unchanging synchronisation at the centre of everything; a sync that was decided at the very beginning of time. Everything follows from it, everything is ruled by it: all time, all physics, all life. And all animation.”Max Hattler

WARNING: There’s some serious flickering up ons so if you’re prone to seizures or don’t like flashing stuff I’d recommend not clicking play.

Come, let’s all join hands and get lost in the wormhole together: prepare yourself for nine minutes of some truly zone-out psychedelia courtesy of the talented Max Hattler. Full screen, headphones and a dark, quiet room are essential for a proper viewing; I don’t think the aforementioned will be enough to truly replicate seeing Sync as an installation, but you should try your best to emulate the ambiance.

Click here to read more about Sync and be sure to send some positive cosmic vibes towards Sam Lillard who submitted this to our electron harvesting array less than 24 hours after Max originally posted it to his Vimeo account.

Moar Max Hattler on The Tripatorium™: 1923 (Heaven)

[ Sync (by Max Hattler) ]

1923 (Heaven)

“1923 aka Heaven is one of two animation loops directed by Max Hattler, inspired by the work of French outsider artist Augustin Lesage. 1923 is based on Lesage’s painting ‘A symbolic Composition of the Spiritual World’ from 1923.”

If we ever get time travel sorted out it’d be wonderful to go back to the 1920s and show Mr. Lesage what kind of art we’re making in the 21st century. I’d imagine he properly flip out.

Max also created a companion piece – 1925 aka Hell – that you might be interested in seeing as well. Oh, and before I forget…PROTIP: After you click play, right-click (or control+click if you are using a single-button mouse on a Mac) inside the video and select ‘Turn Loop ON’ for an infinite journey. Enjoy!

[ 1923 aka Heaven (by Max Hattler) ]