Animation examples part 2

As mentioned in the post below, I've included some clips of the animations from the Se-Ma-For Festival and the Oscar Award Winning 'Tango' by Zbigniew Rybczynski and Witold Giersz's - Czerwone i Carne (The Red and the Black)

Zbigniew Rybczynski - Tango (1983)


Tango from MotionEmotion on Vimeo.



George Méliès - A trip to the Moon (1902)


Trip To The Moon from Phillip Johnston on Vimeo.

Ladislaw Starewicz - The Insect's Christmas (1913)




Witold Giersz - Czerwone i Carne (The Red and the Black) (1963)

The full version can be found on the Anthology of Polish Animation DVD.

Frozen spinach hearts, Latin speaking horses and mind bending Grindcore

Friday (24th) was another day of exploration around Łódź, trying to tick off the many places to see in this never-ending city. First was the Church, or Katedra, which is 2 minutes away from the flat. I wouldn't even like to attempt to describe the style of architecture of the building, but you can get a link here, though Google translated, you get an idea of the place. There was a service at the time, the songs during these services still catch my attention, and the church is welcome to guests, but maybe not so touristy during the sunday mass, but any God doubting heathen can still enjoy the intricate, complex and grandiose design of this church.

I later ended up in one of the many parks of Łódź, which I gather was the Park Staromiejski, closest to Manufaktura. Many people told me before I made the move, that Poland in Autumn was when you could see the country at it's most sparkling and beatiful, and now I see why. As most people from Łódź, Łódź-ians (perhaps?!), will agree, the city is blessed to have so many green areas in a mass of dark and decrepit buildings from years gone past, and from what I've read there are plenty of hidden sculptural, artistic and natural treasures in many of the other parks around the city.

Along with the lovely greenery, art and festivals never seem to stop in Łódź, with exhibtions and shows happening throughout the year at all times. The excerpt attached below is from the Fokus Łódź Biennale 2010  the photo comes from Miru Kim's 'I pig therefore I am'. Which was refreshing to see animal rights and animal welfare issues in the public's reach without giving the impression of  being preachy or being an ignorable single issue protest, the description reading,

Miru Kim's I Pig therefore I am

The work is about the absurdity of mass production of animals
and how that relates to our own lives. Seeing images of hog
farms itself has an emotional impact on most people. I add myself
in the space to add an element of direct contact between
the pigs in the industrial farm and the audience (human
onlooker). There are many interpretations possible also
because of the cultural connotations of pigs. I am mostly
interested in pigs as creatures that are very similar to humans.
I found it appropriate to place the photos of pig farms in the lightboxes
in the pass. It brings more attention to how the urban dwellers
ignore the "ugly” parts of industrial production of what they eat.
The light-boxes also turn the crowded and sometimes dangerous
pass into something else, into a kind of art-space.

'ATM'

Suffering Mind

The evening brought one of my most anticipated events of the week, a loud, noisy and mind bending grindcore gig with Polish grind dudes, Suffering Mind. At the same venue as last week's affair, the Bycze Oko, though the turnout was smaller, the atmosphere was as welcoming and for me, a lot more fun. Diffenbachia, a local bunch, were tight and more on the metallic side of grind (no links, sorry!) then a band, who we'll call ATM for now, played a fun and catchy style of goregrind, with a nice dose of silly dancing and a fast cover of Queen's 'We Will Rock You'. Suffering Mind ended the night with short, sharp set of Phobia style grind, living up to the smiles they created on my face when listening to them on record, though myself and many others could have happily seen them playing for longer. I was also introduced to a special brand of DIY Vodka,  which safe to say, was strong. Also met some more nice punk folk, including Kuchar and discussing the future release of Suffering Mind's 2" record, and have further cemented plans to do a Grind/Powerviolence band in Łódź, results to follow.

The Cameraman's Revenge

Suffering Mind

Saturday (25th) I made a trek over to the Se-Ma-For Film Festival closing night, with fellow grind and film nerds, Paweł and Paulina. Se-Ma-Four is one of Poland's most prolific and active animation studios, specialising in puppet animation, opening in 1947, the studio has created some of Poland's most recognisible children's characters and short animations, including the Oscar award winning animations, Peter and the Wolf and the 1983 film, 'Tango',  by Zbigniew Rybczyński. The evening consisted of a lot of 'dziękuję bardzo' s (thank you very much) and speeches from the organisers and directors, plus screenings of animations from the early 1900s including work from pioneering animator French Georges Méliès and Russian Ladislaw Starewicz. The films were accompanied with live improvisations from two groups of Warsaw origin.  We also treated to a rare piece of film by Lodz animator, Witold Giersz, famous for his Czerwone i Czarne (the Red and the Black) animation and his work on children's animation. See the post above for short videos with some of this work.

Frozen Spinach Hearts. Don't ask.

Idzie Wojna (War is Coming): More Polish Punk/Hardcore

Here's a few more fine examples of Polish Punk/Hardcore, starting with raw 80s blasts and some more recent noise from 90s and 00s;


Siekiera - Idzie wojna (War is Coming) (formed in 1982, but unsure of the date of this track)




Post-Regiment - Kolory (Colours) (1992)




Moskwa - Nigdy (Never) (live from Jarocin Fesival, 1986)




Sanctus Iuda - DIY (live from 1995)




Filth of Mankind - Obledna Rzeczywistosc (Mad Realities) (2000)

Harvest Festival, Wasabi Sauce and Guy Fawkes

Sunday (19th) I was invited to a Harvest Festival by one of the teachers and husband from school and being a curious chap I couldn't refuse. Held in Spała, which is 60 km south east of Łódź. Dożynki is the name for the festival but this year it was an extra special Presidential Dożynki, with Bronislaw Komorowski who has recently replaced Lech Kaczysnki, who died earlier this year in a fatal lane crash.

The setting was a quiet rural village, with beautiful surrounding forests and lakes, plus a also rather lovely wooden church, still in good shape after 100s of years. But upon entering we were met with a seemingly over the top Police presence, which caused the roads to be closed in the area until the President had smiled, waved and said thank you to everyone, and then left. Apart from this, it was enjoyable to see the vibrant costumes and dances from representives of many districts of Poland, each district having their specific wreaths, songs and costumes (see photos for details) I managed to find some traditional vegan food, one was a type of pastry with mashed cabbage and mushroom, and of course pickles and bread. There was also a local brewery represented there, Koreb, my favourite of the two I had was the Herbowl, a dark pilsner but with rich tastes, to those of cinammon and ginger.

Monday (20th) was a return to school and becoming involved in assisting and teaching during class hours. Afterwards I met a local lover of all things fast and noisy, Tomas,  we made plans to start making a band together, discusssing Anarchism and strange music, we were at Peron 6, a small beer bar in Piotrkowska Street, selling a large selection of world beers, my favourite being the Russian Baltika.

 Warsaw Uprising shield

Tuesday (21st) I conducted my first after school class as part of the English Club. We had a lesson and made posters for Guy Fawkes night, learnt about its Pagan roots, fireworks, Bonfires and the traditions on the 5th November for this occassion. I was met with one baffling question, "Is it true that they burn babies on these bonfires?" I later met with some dudes for a session of vegan Sushi and going through the unbearable torture that Wasabi sauce can sometimes bring, but I gather it's good for you, always pleasing to see anybody pull a daft face. Plus a lesson in more (there can never be enough) Polish punk, which you can see some clips of in the post above. A poster with "Animals die to keep your fat ass alive" also made me smile, drawn by a vegan from Kazakhstan, and no, I've never known of vegans from Kazakhstan either.

Beats of Freedom

Recently watched Rock/Punk/Reggae documentary about real rebel music during the Communist era in Poland. The trailer is here -




Well reccomended.


Some favourites -


Dezerter - Burdel




Maanam - Night Patrol

Polish Animation

After my MS2 visit, I picked up 'An Anthology of Polish Film Animation' DVD and spent a large chunk of Saturday afternoon watching it. Though as awesome as You Tube is, it doesn't have all the videos I would like to post on here. I've only made through a third of the 2-disc DVD, here are some favourites....

Jan Lenica - Labryinth (Parts 1 and 2)








Stefan Schabenbeck - Everything is a Number






Stefan Schabenbeck - Stairs





Ryszard Czekala - Bird

18/09/2010 - a week's roundup

Attempting to sum up the last week is proving to be difficult, I am currently saying 'yes' to as much as possible and keeping on top of so many things has left the blog a bit empty for a few days.

Pitorkowska Street

Monday (13th) saw the start of my time at the school, called 'gymnasium' in Polish as it caters for 13-16 year olds before they start high school, which is from 16-18. Education is compulsory until the age of 18 in Poland. Anyhows, the majority of the day was spent introducing myself to 6 classes of varying ages and abilities. I am now practicing trying as much as possible to speak without a northern accent and to speak slowly, I've told many teachers that grammar in certain parts of the UK doesn't seem to matter at times, "I were going," , "I ain't done nowt," etc etc but I can maybe save this for an advanced English survival course. After my introduction I was asked questions like, "do you like football?", "do you like hamburgers?", "do you have any pets?", "do you like Polish women?" etc. In all, the staff have been friendly and my co-ordiantor has been extremley helpful, and not to forget the curious and energetic pupils.

Later, I met Maciek, who I'd contacted through Couchsurfing, a fellow Vegan Anarchist type, we talked predictiably, about politics, food and music and filled our faces with falafel and middle eastern tea. Explaining to Poles that the British put milk in their tea still brings reactions of shock and horror.

Piotrkowska Street

Tuesday (14th) back in school and again introduced myself to more classes, I'm just waiting for the pupils to get used to me, as I recieve wide-eyed looks of confusion. The evening led me to meet Ania, who I'd be emailing through Couchsurfing and had a spare room in her flat on Piotrkowska Street  - safe to say I've been incredibly lucky, again! The meeting went well and I'm now a Lodz resident on Piotrkowska Street. We later went to Cafe Foto - and the Kaliska , two rather awesome venues.

Wednesday (15th) consisted of schooling, saying goodbye to my lovely hosts, Michal and Magda and settling in into the new flat.

Section of the Manufaktura

Thursday (16th) I was lucky to be invited to a Polish history lesson at the school, the lesson was on the early creation of the Polish state. As I understand, pre-966 AD, Poland was a collection of tribes, primarly Pagan, with the divides between the eastern, western and southern districts. There are several myths and legends about the creation of the state, and who was responsible, in particular Lechu, Czechu and Rusie were the guilty culprits. Plus interesting fables about rat infested Kings, long hair and a Prince being blind until the age of 7 due to an age old curse... New word! - Plemię (tribe). Wikipedia type info malarky - History of Poland

Manufaktura

Later, I was given a tour of the Manufaktura, by some of the pupils of the school. Apart from the endless amount of shops in this building, it is actually quite a nice area! The building was a huge factory during the Industrial Revolution, but as it is a listed building it had to be used for other purposes. As well as expensive shops, there is also cafes, children's play areas, a science museum, cinema and art gallery. We visited the MS2 Gallery, the temporary exhibition Robert Morris, was in my mind, slightly pretentious and boring, though a second visit may change my mind. I still feel like a tourist in this vast city, but to me everything here is new, exciting, different and worth a second glance.

Friday (17th) was my first day off and trying to collect and arrange all that's happened, still discovering the architecture of this city, though I really haven't ventured too far off Pitorkowska Street. I returned to the Manufaktura to finish off the final floor of the MS2 gallery and this proved to be fruitful. The 3rd floor was based upon; illusions, deceptions and tricks of the eye. In particular, Piotr Wyrzykowski's 'Runner' was a highlight. Had my first meal in Green Way, which is a chain of Vegetarian Restaurants and Health Food stores in Poland, the food is cheap but a good deal. It is a saviour to know that you can be guaranteed Vegan food in these places, but I've heard from Vegans and Vegetarians in Poland that Green Way treat their workers badly and unfairly, thus is the cruel hand of capitalism. More info from Libcom is here - http://libcom.org/news/green-way-vegetarian-restaurant-doesnt-pay-workers-10022010

Socteau Cirque

I met Michal again and went to my first Punk/Hardcore gig in Lodz. Safe to say, it was nice to seen such a large turnout, with a lot of younger folk there too, which is always a welcoming sign as more bands, distros, labels and noise freaks are often formed from this early intiations to the noisier side of life.... most of the bands I wasn't too keen on, but the atmosphere was nice and I was happy to be back at a gig again. Socteau Cirque though, was rather sweet, playing a solo set of Ambient Noise, rhythmical at times and using synths and a laptop, melodies sparkled through the dirge and made a satisying set. We traded and have plans to collab.

Gig Dudes

10/09/2010

The day started with a Mediterranean style breakfast followed by an intense Polish lesson from Magda, she is keen and a lover of languages and especially grammar. I am getting used to my throat and tongue producing unusual sounding combinations, I know it will be difficult, but I will persevere. Me and Michał also got very nerdy about loud and heavy music and already made plans to see plenty of ear blasting music in the coming months. I am also keen to meeting the people from the Punk and Hardcore scene of Łódź, those who I have spoken to already have been enthusiastic and honest.



We ventured into town and to the Cinematography museum, which was a real treat and a place I can see visiting more often during my time here. I also feel the more I am here the more knowledgable about film and photography, Łódź has such a rich history and vibrancy in this area. Pleasing to know that in the coming week I can see The Cabinet of Dr.Calligari, The Battleship Potemkin, Metropolis and more, for the equivalent of 2.50. The museum building was owned by a rich landowner and industrialist by the name of Karol Scheibler, his rooms were available to see and were pure decoration, skillfully carved and designed. But for me, the real highlight was the children's film section. So many walls filled with glass cabients with puppets from children's TV shows past and present, many of which are still very popular today. It seems like the styles of Oliver Postgate never stopped and became smoother, more ellaborate and still mainted the warmness and playfulness that the Postgate cartoons had. Particular favourite was Worek, meaning 'sack' in Polish, the animation consisting of Worek living in a dungeon, growing teeth and eating; clocks, candles, umbrellas and anything in sight. Surreal and pleasing!



See photos attached.

We later went to Bedon, a small village outside of Łódź and visited the Zebra bar, one of the small pubs/clubs in Bedon. Again, met more lovely people! I was also opened up to the wonderful world of Disco Polo, which to my ears was very cheesy, 4x4, poppy House type stuff, with some folk melodies regrettably, not my kind of thing. More info here  - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disco_polo

We stayed at Michał's parents and I've been treated so well again, the food has been fantastic too, I tried a traditional Polish soup, Barszcz, which was unlike the traditional version and Veganated.

09/09/2010

The arrival into Poland still didn't seem so certain, some things are not fully realised yet and I fear there's too much I've concentrated on or worried about, only time will tell, my eyes and ears are open at all times.

Michał and Magda, my hosts from Couchsurfing met me at Łódź airport, then fed me the first official Vegan meal they had cooked, which was tasty and partially filled the never ending hole of my belly. We later met their friends who were friendly, funny and full of questions, again pleasing to realise the Polish openess to strangers. Also interesting to try new beers, something I'm always keen to do and also lucky enough to taste the Żywiec Porter.

A perfect welcome to Poland, first impressions have been wonderful and I can't thank Couchsurfing enough. Albeit it was long and tiring.