MassArt Film Society: Martha Colburn
Wednesday, November 10th, 20h, 4$
Massachusetts College of Art, Film Department
Screening room 1. 621 Huntington Ave. Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
In my work I utilize the language and materials of filmmaking to comment on popular culture, consumerism, politics and sexuality. My work addresses contemporary topics to express my personal anxieties and passions. Through a collage of live action (paint-on-glass) animations, found footage and documentary filmmaking techniques, my films are a disturbing and at times humorous take on ...popular and political culture.
In recent years I have expanded my technique to include the use of multi-plane glass animation, whereby you have three to five layers of artwork animated between sheets of glass.
With each new film, I construct a new ‘animating stand’ to use for the actual filming; rigging layers of glass for depth, a network of wires in the air, odd boxes made from shelving and mirrors and so on. I work completely analog on 16mm and 35mm film and my special effects are not a computer-determined program. I hand paint the film after it is filmed , frame-by-frame or use special materials to create the desired effect.
Complimenting my films, I create elaborately layered collages, paintings, and installations that incorporate transparencies, recordings, and live performances. As my conceptual process grows, so follows advances in my already detailed and labor-intensive animating process. Technically, I am expanding my technique into working with multi-plane glass animation which represents a physical manifestation of my conceptually layered ideas.
Currently I am working on films that combine art historical representations and current depictions of politics to challenge our notions of truth and fantasy. As a descendent of some of America’s earliest settlers (ministers, farmers and wagon train members), I have an awareness of the repository of the guilt-haunted twisted history of the American soul. My current work draws from this perspective and personal experience to address issues such as Methamphetamine use, environmental catastrophes, and man’s relationship to nature.
