Charon

Charon

2013 · Animation

American cartoons are the starting point for Martin Arnold's new work. Sequences of short films form the basis of a process of fragmentation, deconstruction, dismantling and repetition. Arnold uses fun, family entertainment to create films with open-ended possibilities for association. His pieces, such as Hydra (2013), Charon (2013), Nix (2013) and Self Control (2011), feature characters whose anatomy is no longer recognizable as such, but rather resemble puppets, remotely controlled from the outside. Trembling hands, dancing tongues, blinking eyes and snoring mouths move like ghosts against an abyss-like deep black background, in which bodily elements constantly disappear, only to reappear once more.

Directed by Martin Arnold

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A 12-hour installation piece comprising slowed-down footage of Renée Jeanne Falconetti in Carl Theodor Dreyer's 1928 film La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc.
Pièce touchéePièce touchée · 1989
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Arnold's source material is a piece of footage from the 1950s, eighteen seconds long and very typical for the period. A quiet take: A living room, a woman in an armchair. Her husband opens the door, kisses her, then moves out of the picture accompanied by a camera pan, his wife follows after him. In Arnold's film the sequence takes 16 minutes. Cadre by cadre, it becomes an exciting tango of movements. But Pièce Touchée is more than just a matter of forms; The reflections, distortions and delays it displays challenge cinema's stable system of space and time.
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Since 1995, the Viennale has invited renowned directors to create short, one-minute films as personal contributions to the festival. Ranging from home movies to political essays, musical sketches to abstract studies, these “little films” form a unique anthology of cinematic moments. 20 Little Films collects a selection of these works, premiering together for the Viennale’s 50th anniversary at the Locarno Film Festival.
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In a deconstruction of classic Hollywood codes, using repetitive single frame images, the re-editing of teenager movies produces an intense Oedipal drama.
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NixNix · 2013
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American cartoons are the starting point for Martin Arnold's new work. Sequences of short films form the basis of a process of fragmentation, deconstruction, dismantling and repetition. Arnold uses fun, family entertainment to create films with open-ended possibilities for association. His pieces, such as Hydra (2013), Charon (2013), Nix (2013) and Self Control (2011), feature characters whose anatomy is no longer recognizable as such, but rather resemble puppets, remotely controlled from the outside. Trembling hands, dancing tongues, blinking eyes and snoring mouths move like ghosts against an abyss-like deep black background, in which bodily elements constantly disappear, only to reappear once more.
Whistle StopWhistle Stop · 2014
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2014
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"It had to be me."
Haunted HouseHaunted House · 2011
Haunted House
2011
MovieHorrorAnimation
Parts of Mickey Mouse floating in a Haunted House
Tooth EruptionTooth Eruption · 2013
Tooth Eruption
2013
MovieAnimation
Recomposing teeth gestures.
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Psycho
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Martin Arnold's remake of the shower scene from Psycho. Made as a spot for the Viennale.
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American cartoons are the starting point for Martin Arnold's new work. Sequences of short films form the basis of a process of fragmentation, deconstruction, dismantling and repetition. Arnold uses fun, family entertainment to create films with open-ended possibilities for association. His pieces, such as Hydra (2013), Charon (2013), Nix (2013) and Self Control (2011), feature characters whose anatomy is no longer recognizable as such, but rather resemble puppets, remotely controlled from the outside. Trembling hands, dancing tongues, blinking eyes and snoring mouths move like ghosts against an abyss-like deep black background, in which bodily elements constantly disappear, only to reappear once more.
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Parts of a comic strip are animated.
Full RehearsalFull Rehearsal · 2017
Full Rehearsal
2017
Movie
In a later group of short film loops such as Soft Palate (2010) and Whistle Stop (2014),[5] Arnold seems to discover psychoanalytic underbellies in the most popular form of post-war family entertainment, animation, and its most iconic characters such as Mickey Mouse (using two of Mickey's shorts, one of them Mickey's Delayed Date), Tom And Jerry, Daffy Duck (Draftee Daffy) and Goofy (How To Play Golf).
Shadow CutsShadow Cuts · 2010
Shadow Cuts
2010
Movie
In a later group of short film loops such as Soft Palate (2010) and Whistle Stop (2014), Arnold seems to discover psychoanalytic underbellies in the most popular form of post-war family entertainment, animation, and its most iconic characters such as Mickey Mouse (using two of Mickey's shorts, one of them Mickey's Delayed Date), Tom And Jerry, Daffy Duck (Draftee Daffy) and Goofy (How To Play Golf).
In TinseltownIn Tinseltown · 2020
In Tinseltown
2020
Movie
color, sound, 2:14 loop, 2020
Black HolesBlack Holes · 2015
Black Holes
2015
MovieHistoryAnimation
cel animation, repetition, and disappearance... color, sound, 5:20 loop, 2015

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