Been itchin’ to post this one since last Wednesday when I first saw it pop-up in Mr. Lotus’ twitter feed. He’s got a new album, Until The Quiet Comes, set to drop on October 1st and made the brilliant decision to hire Sir Cyriak to create a video to promote it’s release.
It’s a true collaboration and exactly what you’d expect when creatives of this caliber combine their unique skill sets. The tune itself fuses together two of Flying Lotus’ fortés: sterile, machine-pulsed-and-stripped-down beats and his trademark spacey, rambling, warm-and-jazzy tones. Cyriak takes that contrast and runs with it, creating a world populated with regiments of single-purpose robots that is forever changed after one of them spontaneously evolves, trading in its initial programming for a more familiar-to-us set of survival-of-the-fittest, kill-or-be-killed instincts. The video escalates in typical Cyriak fractal-fashion, progressing in complexity from the micro to the macro until everything-is-everything and then back again. Word.
It’s a treat, y’all. ENJOY!
FYI: Both our Flying Lotus and Cyriak feeds are packed with fantastic videos.
[ Flying Lotus - Putty Boy Strut (Until The Quiet Comes, new album out October 1st/2nd) ]
posted by respondcreate on Sep. 23, 2012 in Videos | tags: animation, bizarre, cyriak, electronic music, evolution, flying lotus, fractals, hd, music video, robots, trippy
“You know I never want to let you down,
It cuts me up to see you sad.
And I wish that I could undo what I’ve done;
Give back the faith in me you had.”
Another day, another fantastic music video for a tune from Gotye’s Making Mirrors. This one’s packed with playful, surreal hand drawn visuals (directed/animated by Gina Thorstensen and Nacho Rodriguez with help from Giulia Bellunato) that do a great job fleshing out and exploring the themes of regret, longing, identity, forgiveness and hope presented in the song.
As alluded to above, we’ve posted loads of great music videos from Making Mirrors to the site that can be conveniently accessed via our Gotye feed. Happy browsing!
[ Gotye - Giving Me A Chance - official video ]
posted by respondcreate on Sep. 19, 2012 in Videos | tags: animation, bizarre, colorful, ethereal, gina thorstensen, giulia bellunato, gotye, hand drawn, hd, love, music video, nacho rodriguez, surreal, trippy
“I’m-still-swimming-in-that-language,
it’s multi-versal; pages and journals.
My journey here is ended soon –
we blow eternal.
My mind expands
with widening strands
of indigo and purple.
This music’s not commericial,
just the-square-to-meet-that-circle.”
We’ve been watching Ori Toor make shit since first discovering the ‘unofficial’ music video he created for Animal Collective’s Lion in a Coma. Since then he’s made a few more and each exhibit his distinct ‘stream of consciousness’ style of staggered-and-repeating organic, undulating shapes. Ori’s approach has subtely shifted in each of them but they’ve all, for the most part, remained abstract studies in colorful form. The attached, his latest, veers into new territory and I’m absolutely loving how he’s mixed in some representational imagery to compliment the usual assortment of evolving, fluid structures.
It’s my favorite Ori-joint yet and easily an ‘instant classic’ of the site…it’d be a crime to watch this in anything but full-screen HD. Oh and a nice pair of bass-friendly headphones is a must, too; Kingdom Crumbs knows how to properly fatten-up the bottom end of their kicks and basslines and you’ll want to rattle-and-bathe in each one.
Speaking of which, I picked up their eponymous album this morning and have been listening to it while I cobble together this post. It’s thoughtful, positive, mellow, rambling-in-a-good-way hip-hop undergirded by some spacey, out-there synthesizers and easily worth the ten bucks in iTunes. If you’re strapped for cash, head over to Bandcamp and name-your-price; even the most frugal of budgets can accommdate a few cents, right?
ENJOY!
[ Kingdom Crumbs - Evoking Spirits ]
posted by respondcreate on Sep. 13, 2012 in Videos | tags: abstract, animation, chill, colorful, hd, hip-hop, kingdom crumbs, mellow, music video, organic, ori toor, psychedelic, spiritual, trippy
Here’s another delectable morsel of hand drawn animation from this year’s bountiful Gobelins harvest. It’s by four, third-year students – Todd DeJong, Tom Law, Wandrille Maunoury, Etienne Metois and Jonathan Vermersch – and does a fantastic job illustrating a distinct flavor of anxiety we’ve probably all experienced.
P.S. If you’re into ‘making of’s then you’re in luck: Wandrille, Tom and Todd each uploaded a behind-the-scenes peek of their individual contributions to Distance. Enjoy!
[ Distance ]
posted by respondcreate on Sep. 08, 2012 in Videos | tags: animation, bizarre, colorful, etienne metois, gobelins, hand drawn, hd, jonathan vermersch, love, psychedelic, todd dejong, tom law, trippy, wandrille maunoury
This short by Gobelins students Théo Guignard, Nöé Lecombre and Hugo Moreno reminds me of three distinct ‘flavors’: Stanley Kubrick‘s trademark sterile, ominous atmospheric direction, Bruce Timm‘s tight, economical illustrative style and Vangelis’ thick, synth-heavy ambient soundtracks. It strikes a just-right balance between hand-drawn 2D animation’s warmth and character and the immersion-heightening ability of subtly-executed 3D. It’s very nice; don’t hesitate to dive in.
If you’re diggin’ this one, I suggest you watch Countdown next.
P.S. Hugo posted a behind-the-scenes look at how ECLIPSE came together; if you’re into process it’s can’t miss.
P.P.S. Our Gobelins feed is filled to the brim with fantastic short films that are all worthy of your attention. Enjoy!
posted by respondcreate on Sep. 05, 2012 in Videos | tags: alien, animation, french, gobelins, hand drawn, hd, hugo moreno, nöé lecombre, space, théo guignard, trippy
“Drawn in their distinctive 80s-inspired kaleidoscopic style, the Layzells take us on a surreal romp through a richly textured cartoon world dreamed up by a hallucinating out-of-work animator.”
File under: LOLWAT
A surreal-silly-psychedelic-good-times romp created at Blink for Adam Buxton‘s new ‘comedy-meets-music-video’ series, BUG, on Sky Atlantic HD. Best served at the height of your sesh in full-screen HD. This one’s a treat; ENJOY!
P.S. The Layzell Brothers (who illustrated/animated/directed the attached) are also responsible for the super-bizarre Reindeer and om-y 8-Bit Mazes so give those a gander when you’re done here.
[ Adam Buxton 'Livin In The Sunlight, Lovin In The Moonlight' ]
posted by respondcreate on Aug. 30, 2012 in Videos | tags: adam buxton, animation, bizarre, blinkink, colorful, drugs, hd, jim stoten, layzell brothers, lolwat, psychedelic, surreal, tiny tim, trippy, wat
When I was a child I used to let my imagination run wild whenever I’d be in transit – whether by car or train or bus (I didn’t fly for the first time until college) – trying to picture any secret worlds that might exist parallel to our own. The subway was especially intriguing and, in between station stops, I’d envision all manner of underground dwellers who sat hidden just beyond the reach of the fluorescent light that streamed from the train’s windows as it sped by. The attached short film by Jake Wyatt explores similar territory and drips with an atmospheric mystery that holds your attention from start to finish.
The moody, ethereal, meandering George Winston-esque piano score compliments the visuals so well that I wondered if it was written specifically for the film or was one of the primary inspirations for its creation. Michael Wyatt is listed in the end credits as the composer and, since him and the director share a last name, I wouldn’t be surprised if both the film and it’s soundtrack were created in parallel. All-in-all, it’s very nice…don’t hesitate to dive in.
Oh and Jake is also a fantastic illustrator so definitely check out his Tumblr when you get a chance. (Primeape?! NICE.)
Last summer I got an email from someone claiming to be Pharrell Williams’ assistant. My initial thought was that I was getting trolled but I decided to respond anyways since I had been such a big fan of his since first discovering The Neptunes by way of N.O.R.E.‘s Superthug.
To my pleasant surprise, it turned out to be legit and a few weeks later I was on the phone with Pharrell himself asking if I’d be up for collaborating on something (an even pleasant-er surprise, for sure).
He had a new hush-hush project in the works called i am OTHER and thought The Tripatorium™ would fit in nicely with what they were up to. We’ve been kicking ideas back-and-forth since then and thought the logical place to start would be to put together some playlists of our favorite videos. Where it goes from here? Who knows…but if you’d like to see us do more together shoot i am OTHER a message on Facebook or Twitter and let them know. In the meantime, subscribe on YouTube to be the first to find out when our next collaboration goes live. (While you’re there, definitely check out Nardwuar’s interviews…they’re fantastic.)
The first playlist went up last night and is comprised of four videos that initially inspired the creation of the site (Zodiac Shit, The Parachute Ending, The Music Scene, Baby I’m Yours) and six other favorites that we think typify The Tripatorium™ experience (After the Rain, The Murf, Between Bears, Let Go, Baltimore Clap and Loom). It’s a distilled dose of what we’re up to and a perfect way to introduce the site to anyone who might be interested.
Cheers!
[ METRO ]
posted by respondcreate on Aug. 26, 2012 in Videos | tags: animation, art, atmospheric, colorful, ethereal, hd, jacob wyatt, michael wyatt, piano, subway
“My approach to illustration is about paring things down as much as possible.
I try and get to the essence of my subject by using as few lines and colours
as it needs to convey the core of the idea.”
Malika Favre, who wrote the above, has a distinctly minimal and dignified hard-edged style that’s reminiscent (to me at least) of Paul Rand‘s iconic logos, René Gruau’s figures and those muted-future illustrations you might see hanging faded in a dated hair salon’s street-facing window. That last bit of the preceding sentence might seem insulting but honestly, it wasn’t my intention.
Picasso famously said that ‘good artists copy; great artists steal’ which, like most hyperbolic statements, makes sense on the surface but doesn’t hold up to honest, measured scrutiny. Insecure assholes steal; a great artist internalizes the images that inexplicably resonate, leveraging them as a catalyst for iterative exploration until something entirely their own arises from the grind. And, though Ms. Favre’s work might remind me of something else – it is, make no mistake, wholly unique.
Strangely enough, the attached wasn’t made by her but was commissioned by Kemistry Gallery to advertise her upcoming exhibition, Hide and Seek. Maki Yoshikura did the animation while Luke Carpenter and Natural Self handled the compositing and music, respectively.
Credits aside, I like to see such tight, precise illustrations move and Maki did a stellar job bringing Malika’s work to life without compromising it’s rigid spirit. Oh, and the transition from one vignette to the next in stark black-and-white makes the eyes a bit dizzy (in a good way) so get this loaded full screen for sure. Enjoy!
posted by respondcreate on Aug. 22, 2012 in Videos | tags: animation, art, black and white, hd, illustration, luke carpenter, maki yoshikura, malika favre, natural self, trippy, vector
“And you gave me love
When I could not love myself
And you made me turn
From the way I saw myself
And you’re patient, love
And you help me help myself
And you save me,
You save me, you save me…”
What a great fuckin’ song. Cheers to Peter Lowey for the fantastic visuals and to Gotye for explicating, via woven words and sounds, the transformative magic of love. Enjoy!
Click here for some moar Gotye goodness on The Tripatorium™.
[ Gotye - Save Me - official video ]
posted by respondcreate on Aug. 13, 2012 in Videos | tags: animation, atmospheric, ethereal, gotye, hd, love, music video, peter lowey, trippy
Takashi Ohashi‘s animation in this music video for cokiyu reminds me of both bleeple’s 2D moving collages and Ori Toor’s layered undulations. They all share a foundation of smooth, psychedelic abstraction but Takashi’s shapes veer away from pure form to conjure an alien landscape of playful, swimming organisms. It’s smooth-as-fuck, too – clearly he sweats the details, something I always appreciate.
Speaking of which, I’m a big fan of the ‘color-echo’ effect that makes it’s first appearance from 1:41-2:06, reappears at 2:47 and spools up to a crescendo from 3:17 to 3:47. It probably looks good on your phone, sure, but it’s one of those bits of subtle animation that’s magic on a big screen in a dark room so, if you’ve got access to a similar environment, I suggest you experience it there.
Enjoy!
P.S. If you’re diggin’ this, definitely watch Chunkothy next.
posted by respondcreate on Aug. 06, 2012 in Videos | tags: abstract, animation, cokiyu, colorful, hd, music video, organic, playful, psychedelic, takashi ohashi, trippy, whimsical