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 noisy meditation ASLEEP IN THE RAILYARD: MORE EVIDENCE FOR THE EXISTENCE OF AN ARCHETYPAL GOAT KING.
From THE FLOOD VAULTS
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 about other installations here.
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 promises to explore basic principles of transference and transformation in their "most
apparent and least obvious forms" will be 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 is scheduled to open in March of 2010.
BLASHFIELD RETROSPECTIVE AT OTTAWA '09 This 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 (BUNNYHEADS, SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES, ), music videos (Talking Heads' AND SHE WAS, Michael Jackson's LEAVE ME ALONE, ) and current installation work (THE FLOOD VAULTS and CONVEYOR) as well as offering a look behind the scenes at production and processes.
From CONVEYOR
