CONTACT
JBSTUDIO@SPIRITONE.COM
JBSTUDIO@SPIRITONE.COM
In the mid-1980s,
with the completion of
his comic surrealist animated film SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES, Jim's work caught the attention of some of the era's most adventurous artists working in popular music. During this time the studio created high profile music videos for Talking Heads, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, Peter Gabriel, Michael Jackson, Tears for Fears and others-- expanding awareness of Blashfield's work internationally.
with the completion of
his comic surrealist animated film SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES, Jim's work caught the attention of some of the era's most adventurous artists working in popular music. During this time the studio created high profile music videos for Talking Heads, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, Peter Gabriel, Michael Jackson, Tears for Fears and others-- expanding awareness of Blashfield's work internationally.
TWO SHORT FILMS ON DVD In Blashfield's THE TASSELED LOAFERS, composer Hector Berlioz' "Dream of a Witch's Sabbath" gets a funny and unexpected reinterpretation when an overly obedient handyman attempts to repair a leaky water pipe. The film is included with Blashfield's surreal comedy SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES, a film about Herbert, Lenore and a flock of flying hands and dancing duck heads bent on mischief and destruction. You can find out more about both films or order the DVD online here.
Jim Blashfield
FILMMAKER / MEDIA ARTIST
FILMMAKER / MEDIA ARTIST
J I M B L A S H F I E L D
I N F O
I N F O
A long-time
member of the vital Pacific Northwest film community, Blashfield's work has been broadcast internationally and screened at numerous festivals throughout the world. He has presented shows of his work at the Chicago Art Institute, Ottawa Animation Festival, Walker Art Center, Art Futura in Barcelona,
and elsewhere.
member of the vital Pacific Northwest film community, Blashfield's work has been broadcast internationally and screened at numerous festivals throughout the world. He has presented shows of his work at the Chicago Art Institute, Ottawa Animation Festival, Walker Art Center, Art Futura in Barcelona,
and elsewhere.
Jim Blashfield's work covers a wide range--
from genre challenging experimental films and videos, through live-action and animated narratives and multiple-screen video and sound installations.
from genre challenging experimental films and videos, through live-action and animated narratives and multiple-screen video and sound installations.
A previous recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Oregon Arts Commission, Blashfield's work was recognized during this period with a Grammy, a Cannes Golden Lion, and several MTV awards and nominations. More recently Blashfield was the recipient of the first RACC Media Arts Fellowship.
Contemporary
projects include a variety of short films and video installations,
including SUCTIONMASTER, THE LONE RANGER , THE RESURRECTORY (with the Liminal
Performance Group), CONVEYOR and THE FLOOD VAULTS (works in progress), the compilation
film MARGARINE OF AIR, the stop-motion film BUNNYHEADS, and the live action film BADGER 5, currently in production.
From MARGARINE OF AIR
WET WORLD Blashfield and crew have completed the image and audio production phase of THE FLOOD VAULTS, a seven screen public art installation near Seattle. Comprised of 7 interrelated "portals" (one of which is
imbedded in the floor) the installation is a damp, playful
and ever metamorphosing dream that places participants at the center of
a vast metaphorical and associative evocation of the watery world that
encloses and flows through us. More...
AN AQUARIUM OF IDEAS Described
as "an aquarium of ideas" and a "garden of natural forces", the 5
screen CONVEYOR is a metaphorical investigation that roams far and wide,
from images of ships on vast seas, to explorations of mysterious systems of reciprocating energies and Sisyphean dog toys on endless journeys. This
20 day reformulating meditative experience-- "a presence rather than a
presentation" which interprets "conveyance" and its associations in their "most
apparent and least obvious forms" is a part of the central
atrium of the Port of Portland's new headquarters building, designed by
Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects, Portland, Oregon.The permanent multiple screen video installation created by Blashfield Studio opened in June of 2010. More about installations.
BLASHFIELD RETROSPECTIVE AT OTTAWA '09 Last year's Ottawa International Animation Festival (October 14-18) featured career retrospectives of the work of Jim Blashfield, Don Hertzfeldt, Stan Vanderbeek, Suzan Pitt and Studio Film Bilder. A juror for the festival (along with Suzan Pitt and Cartoon Brew's Amid Amidi), Jim screened his short films and current installation work as well as offering a look behind the scenes at production and processes.
Conceptual drawing
THE FLOOD VAULTS
THE FLOOD VAULTS
The recently completed CONVEYOR and details from three of the installation's 20 twelve hour long moving image scenes
Compositing artist Zak Margolis and Jim Blashfield work on a scene from THE FLOOD VAULTS
