Shudder at the Drawing Room

Esther Leslie has written an essay for Animate Projects called Shudder - Shutter - Shatter which is very good and provokes many stimulating thoughts relating to the physical shudder, through the writings and deeds of Luigi Galvani, Adorno, and the animator Ladislas Starewicz. It was commissioned to accompany the exhibition Shudder at the Drawing Room, not far from here. You can see some of the films at Animate Projects. I was drawn to the exhibition by this beautiful image from Edwina Ashton's film Mr Panz at Lake Leman (notes on mammals and habitats), which is one of three new films commissioned by Animate Projects and The Drawing Room.













Edwina Ashton's film is a portrait of a slightly grumpy elephant living on the edge of a Swiss lake, there's lots of lovely detail in the drawing and the animation. Ann Course has made a new film called The Collaborators in which Ann's edgy, barely-animated drawings are accompanied by the sound of two parties trying to thrash out an undefined problem. I also liked Naoyuki Tsuji's film ‘Zephyr’ for it's gentle story and bold straight-ahead zooms and pans in charcoal. But somehow it was disappointing seeing the animations at The Drawing Room, the gallery creates a confusing context for single screen projections which don't make reference to the spaces that they are projected in. In addition the films don't relate especially well to the title and Esther Leslie's essay which suggests to me an investigation of something exciting and elemental within the projection and creation of animation. However I do know that Animate Projects will create numerous other screening opportunities across many platforms and the works will each find a place to flourish.