I discovered Bruce Bickford's psychedelic clay animation a few years ago on the Frank Zappa movie 'Baby Snakes' and have been addicted to his work to this day. Bruce Bickford is an under rated (and relatively unknown) Visionary Artist. I was overwhelmed with excitement when I heard that a documentary had been made on the man himself. I ordered it online as soon as I heard 'Monster Road' was available and was not disapointed. Monster Road not only documents the life of an artist who I believe is one of the greatest living Clay animators (who's name I would only utter in the same sentence with greats like Jan Svankmajer), but it is also a fine cinematic masterpiece itself (winner of many awards inc. Slamdance Film Festival Best Documentary Jury Prize 2004). I strongly recomend Monster Road to all Stop animation and Documentary enthusiasts alike. Anyway, enough of my subjective rambling, please check out the YouTube trailer in the top right hand side of this post and see for yourself.

Here is an exerpt from an article on Bickford (sourced from the brighteyepictures website)

Bickford’s films can transport us back to a state of early childhood, where everything is new, and where we are suspended in a state of amused awe. A blade of grass, a tree, a sword, an eerily smiling face are all wonders of great mystery in this state. Things appear and disappear, and events happen inexplicably. Danger and splendor are both just around the corner. Everything is at once beautiful and frightening.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 8th, 2007 at 9:00 am by Jon Beinart and is filed under Animation, Documentaries, Sculpture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.