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STEVEN WOLOSHEN: PLEASURE AND PROVOCATION

The films of Montréal-based filmmaker Steven Woloshen remind us what a pure pleasure animation can be, while at the same time opening the field up to ideas and methods that remain unexplored in most animation. Woloshen first made his presence known with a series of promising short 16mm films in the early 1980s. These introduced the fundamental techniques and stylistic traits that he would explore in later work: abstract “direct” or “cameraless” animation; a close parallel relationship between source music and image; the combination of abstract graphics with linguistic signs; the visual contrast of hard-edged shapes against more organic curvilinear forms; extremely brief visual phrases leading into longer, more stable ones; and intense splashes of color set against neutral black or white lines and shapes. (“Direct” or cameraless” animation, the field out of which Woloshen’s entire practice grows, encompasses an open-ended set of techniques in which an artist works directly on the film strip, adding to it with inks, paints or dyes, adhesive tapes or transparent objects, or etching into the emulsion with sharp implements.)
Following a hiatus of more than a decade, during which he worked in various capacities in the film industry, on-set and in the laboratory, Woloshen returned to his own filmmaking in the late 1990s. It’s clear that his years working in the commercial industry were far from wasted: Woloshen’s films “post-hiatus” are extraordinarily assured, showing enormous progress in aesthetics, graphic technique and understanding of lab processes. In a series of extraordinarily accomplished 35mm Cinemascope films that quickly became worldwide festival favorites – including Get Happy (1999), Ditty Dot Comma (2001) and Bru Ha Ha! (2002) – Woloshen showed that he had honed his basic tools to a fine point. These films express the joy of music, movement, color and shape, in the tradition of direct animation pioneered by Len Lye, Norman McLaren and Harry Smith.
Soon Woloshen began to explore new paths as well. Too restless and experimental a spirit to be satisfied solely with the creation of these delightful abstract entertainments, he began to develop hybrid forms combining his advanced direct animation techniques with other forms of filmmaking. Moving and mysterious films such as The Babble On Palms (2001) and Two Eastern Hair Lines (2004) marry animated graphics with traditional cinematographic images, while a recent “archaeological” series that includes Chronicle Re-Constructions (2008) explores the organic decay of film emulsion. The Cave (2001), a one-off experiment, attests to a conceptual interest in film as an object: unlike most films, The Cave exists only as a single hand-made original, subject to gradual deterioration through repeated projection. Phont Cycle (2006) returns to the use of arbitrary linguistic signs from early films such as Son of Dada (1982). Here, the Tibetan letter “AH” appears from a central point, the lines flowing down and outwards like lava flows, then retracting upwards to leave the screen black. This gesture, like breathing, is repeated over and over, but the colors and textures of the letter change with each iteration, so that the film’s insistent repetition is also inflected by differentiation.
As Steven Woloshen’s work has become more diverse, it has become clear that he is an artist concerned not only with abstraction and animation, but also with essential questions about different forms of representation and signification. To watch Woloshen’s films is, first, to experience the pleasure of filmmaking engaged in a virtuoso play with its most basic elements. But the range of his work, and the divergent paths along which it has moved, show an inquisitive mind, curious to see how fundamentally different modes of graphic expression can be brought into play, into meaningful tension, in a single work of art.
– Chris Gehman

Filmography (1977 - 2011):

Montreal born artist, Steven Woloshen (BFA, MFA Studio Arts) has been passionately creating short abstract films and time-based-art installation pieces since 1977. He has been invited to show his work, has lectured on the subject of handmade analogue film techniques and has been commissioned to create unique films for artist - run centers, international film festivals and galleries. In 2010, he published his first book on the subject of decay, archiving and handmade filmmaking techniques, titled “Recipes for Reconstruction: The Cookbook for the Frugal Filmmaker.”

Experimental short film titles: 1977 - 2011 

Brushstrokes Line and Dot   Son of Dada Cat’s Cradle Didre Novo    You’re No Fun... Hey Papa Dey Pepper Steak   Get Happy MeMeMaMa Ditty Dot Comma   The Babble On Palms     Bru Ha Ha! Cameras Take Five   Minuet Two Eastern Hair Lines   Shaving Shania SNIP The Curse of the Voodoo Child     Rebuttal   Changing Evan       Shimmer Box DriveRH Factor   Chronicle Reconstructions   Scrapbook     Optical Itzak   La Dolce Vita   The Homestead Act     Editorial Playtime      2010 Melbourne Festival Trailer     Fiesta Brava When the Sun Turns into Juice 

Installation loop titles: 1984  - 2011

Vista     Visual Music for Ten Voices     The Rosetta Stone     Zero Visibility Fleeing Rotland     A Step by Step Guide to...      Phont Cycle    The Cave   Love Stinks carbon copies

Galleries and Museums exhibitions:

@Gallery    Hamilton Media Arts Centre   Uxbridge Arts Festival Sudbury Art Gallery   Reina Sofia Museum Ed Video Media Arts Centre   Museum of Fine Arts Houston International House FOFA Gallery The Robert McLaughlin Gallery Christopher Cutts Gallery   Satellite Gallery   Saw Gallery   Art Mur The Barbican Gallery

Film Festivals screenings:

Oberhausen Short Film Festival Montreal World Film Festival Tampere Int’l Short Film Festival Annecy Animated Film Festival Images film Festival Arte TV  European Media arts Festival Rotterdam Int’l Film Festival     Ottawa International Animation Festival     Hamburg International Short Film Festival Zagreb international Animation Festival   Leipzig Film Festival 25 FPS Festival Nouveau Film et Media   Ann Arbor Film Festival   VIS Toronto International Film Festival

Awards and Recognition:

2011                        Canada Council for the Arts – Research and Creation Grant

                        Punto y Raya/Dot & Line Festival – Honorable Mention Visual Music for 10 Voices

                        Conseil des arts et des lettres du Quebec  - Travel Grant

                        Canada Council for the Arts – Travel Grant

                        Vienna Independent Shorts Film Festival – Special Mention Playtime

2010                        Conseil des arts et des lettres du Quebec  - Research/Creation Grant

                        Conseil des arts et des lettres du Quebec  - 2 Travel Grants

                        Canada Council for the Arts – Travel Grant

                        Ottawa Animation festival - Honorable Mention Playtime

                        Jutra Nomination for best Animation: Playtime

2009                         Incendo Production Scholarship – Concordia University.

                        Conseil des arts et des lettres du Quebec  - Travel Grant

                        Toronto Animated Image Society Commission – Playtime

2008                         GBC Asset Management Scholarship - Concordia University

                        Conseil des arts et des lettres du Quebec  - Research/Creation Grant

                        Conseil des arts et des lettres du Quebec  - Travel Grant

2007                         Avi and Dora Morrow Fellowship Award - Concordia University

                        Conseil des arts et des lettres du Quebec  - Travel Grant

                        Main Film Commission  - A Step By Step Guide To...

2006                         Ottawa Animation festival - Honorable Mention Changing Evan

                        Jutra Nomination for best Animation: The Curse of the Voodoo Child

                        Department of Foreign Affairs and Int’l Travel – Travel Grant

2005                        Canada Council for the Arts – Travel Grant

2004                         Jutra Nomination for best Animation: Two Eastern Hair Lines

Canada Council for the Arts – Completion Grant

Images film and Video Festival Commission – Shaving Shania

2003                         I Castelli Animate Film Festival- Best Abstract Short Film: Cameras Take Five

Department of Foreign Affairs and Int’l Travel – Travel Grant

Canada Council for the Arts – Travel Grant

Images film and Video Festival Commission  - Minuet

2002                         Montreal Jewish Student Film Festival: - Best Experimental film: Ditty Dot Comma

2001                        Department of Foreign Affairs and Int’l Travel – Travel Grant

2000                        Department of Foreign Affairs and Int’l Travel – Travel Grant

Retrospectives:

10/ 2011                        Jury programme: Steven Woloshen – 2011 Anim’est Animation Festival

08/ 2010             Technical Focus: Steven Woloshen – 2010 London Int’l Animation Festival

06/ 2010             Technical Focus: Steven Woloshen – 2010 Melbourne Animation Festival

02/ 2009             Woloshen – 2009 Brussels Animation and Cartoon Festival.

12/ 2007             Retrospektiva Stevena Woloshena - Animateka, Ljubljana.                                 

04/ 2006             Steven Woloshen in Person - Ontario Cinematheque.                                        

11/ 2005                     Framings, Fluxes - Canadian Film Institute.

02/ 2005             Montreal Children’s Film Festival.                                                                              

10/ 2002             Scratchatopia - Toronto Animated Image Society.                                                     

10/ 2002             Unsung Heroes of Animation - Ottawa International Animation Festival.                          

02/ 2002             Carte Blanche a Steven Woloshen - Cinematheque Quebecois. 

Filmmaking Workshops/Artists Talks:

06/2011                       Paint and Scratch on Film- Main Film Co-op

10/ 2010                        Master class: Steven Woloshen – OIAF

08 /2010                       scratch and paint on film - London Int’l Animation Festival

06/ 2010                        scratch and paint on film – 2010 Melbourne Animation Festival

05/ 2010                        Paint and Scratch on Film - Main Film Co-op.

02/ 2010                        Go Big or Go Home:  “Strategies of the Medium” – LIFT

06/ 2008                        Les Salon Rencontres  - Main Film Co – Op.

12/ 2007                        Scratchatopia in Ljubljana, Slovenia.           

06/ 2006                        Scratchatopia at the South West Alternative Media Project.        

04/ 2006                        Scratchatopia at the Toronto Animated Image Society.              

11/ 2005                        IFCO Film Co-op.                                     

06/ 2003                        Annecy International Animation Festival.           

10/ 2002                        Toronto Animated Image Society.                          

1984 - present                John Abbott College - Mel Hoppenhiem School of Cinema  -          

DVD Compilations and Publishing:

Recipes for Reconstruction – Scratchatopia Books. Montreal. 2010.

Eleven In Motion – DVD: “Playtime”. Toronto Animated Image Society. Toronto. 2010

Volatile Materials - DVD National Film Board of Canada – “Cameras Take Five” 

Best of the 2008 London Int’l Animation Fest  - DVD– “Changing Evan” London. 2008

Made by Hand – DVD Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre – “Two Eastern Hair Lines”

Spotlight Series: Steven Woloshen –DVD Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre

The Sharpest Point: Animation at the End of Cinema ed. Chris Gehman, p.175. 256 -258

Animation Show of Shows- DVD vol. 6, Acme Filmworks. Los Angeles. 2005.

Permanent Collections:

Concordia University Quickdraw Animation Society    Netherlands Filmmuseum     New Zealand School of Art and Design    The Squeaky Wheel Collective     Art Institute of Chicago     The Center for Visual Music Duke University Library   Cinematheque Quebecoise     Animation Journal     Pixar Animation Studios      Animation World Network      Lightcone     University of Waikato, New Zealand     Emily Carr School of Art and Design     York University

Juries:

2011                        Romanian, Balkanimation &Student competition – Anim’est, Romania

2010                         Australian competition- Melbourne International Animation Festival

2010                         International competition- London International Animation Festival

2006                         Genie Nomination Committee

2006                         Montreal Super -8 Film Festival                       

2005                         Genie Nomination Committee

2004                         Montreal Super -8 Film Festival