Saturday June 22, 7pm
FORMER SELVES:
The Animations of Leslie Supnet
admission $6—artist in person
approximately 45 minutes
©
Leslie Supnet – Image courtesy of the artist
Microscope Gallery welcomes Leslie Supnet in the U.S. solo screening debut of her animated works. Since 2007, Supnet has used whimsical and often surreal imagery to explore themes of sincerity, identity, race, death, and the multiplicity of human emotion. She does this with hand-made paper-cut puppets, computer software, and a second-hand MegaPixel camera found at a thrift store. While often melancholic, Supnet’s animations are not without a sense of humour.
LESLIE SUPNET is a Toronto based artist, originally from Winnipeg MB whose drawing, animated and film work aims to represent sincerity, lived experience, and the multiplicity of human emotion. Her moving image works have screened at various festivals, including the Images Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, Image Forum Festival, Oberhausen Short Film Festival, European Media Arts Festival and LA Film Forum. (http://www.lesliesupnet.com/)
Program:
Moving
video, 2007, 0:58 min
Moving is Leslie Supnet’s first animation made for the Winnipeg Film Group’s 48 Hour Film Contest, which took home first prize. This short explores the ways in which we move from one place to another, using various modes of transportation, and how sometimes in the process we leave things behind.
A Small Misunderstanding
video, 2008, 0:53 min
A young boy endures a tragic, yet much needed, event when a small misunderstanding occurs between himself and a hungry little bird.
A Time is a Terrible Thing to Waste
video, 2012, 2:54 min
A squirrel ponders the essence of time. A collaboration with Winnipeg storyteller Glen Johnson.
The Idea
video, 2012, 2:56 min
Melvin, an idea living in a mediocre brain plans an escape in order to be realized. A collaboration with Winnipeg storyteller Glen Johnson.
The Animated Heavy Metal Parking Lot
video, 2008, 1:40 min
A stop-motion animated tribute to Jeff Krulik and John Heyn’s 1986 video documentary classic, Heavy Metal Parking Lot. Remaining faithful to no-budget film making, Supnet reconstructs her favorite scenes using cut-out characters made out of aged paper, glue and ink.
“Leslie Supnet’s The Animated Heavy Metal Parking Lot, which is quite frankly one of the most charming animated films of all time.” – Mike Everleth, Underground Film Journal
Hang in There
video, 2009, 3:20 min
A nightmarish animated short about a young couple who come to the aid of a troubled bear and unknowingly release its innermost demons.
Fair Trade
video, 2009, 4:31 min
A young woman experiences heavy nostalgic trauma, as she purges herself from the materiality of her past. The story of one woman’s quest for a psychedelic transformation.
sun moon stars rain
video, 2009, 3:20 min
An animated visual elegy, mourning the death of Mother Nature’s children. Music by Teeth Mountain.
Weekend
video, 2012, 2:44 min
Travel film, NYC 2010. The Waverly Diner, H-Block, Sleep, Ron Jeremy, Iggy Pop, Sonic Youth, and the Caribbean Day Parade all on one roll!
How to Care for Introverts
video, 2010, 1:48 min
An animated instructional video on how one should deal with people whose personalities are characterized by extreme shyness and reservation.
Wind + Snow
video, 2011, 4:46 min
Grouper’s Wind and Snow set to images.
spectroscopy
film, 2011, 2:40 min.
A study of spectral colours during a walk through the streets of Winnipeg.
You Are Here
video, 2012, 2:47 min
Invoking the dead to write through a ritual performed by animated hands.
Auroratone
video, 2012, 3:12 min
The Auroratone Project is a commission of original short films by experimental Canadian filmmakers set to the music of POP Montreal’s 2012 participants. ‘Auroratones’ were abstract musical films used in mental institutions and army hospitals after WWII as a means of soothing post-traumatic stress disorder and general mental disturbance, invented by film enthusiast Cecil Stokes who was continuing on nearly two centuries of previous pseudo-scientific attempts to correlate colour with musical notes. Music by Cresting.
gains + losses
video, 2011, 3:25 min
Through situational vignettes, gains + losses illustrates Supnet’s thoughts on death and other personal, day-to-day anxieties. Made as a goodbye letter to a deceased beloved, the work touches on internal grief, tempered with a playful sense of humour and lo-fidelity charm.
Still from Spectroscopy (Leslie Supnet, 2011) © Image courtesy of the artist
