Science Friction (1959)

Stan VanDerBeek's ironic compositions were created very much in the spirit of the surreal and dadaist collages on Max Ernst, but with a wild, rough informality more akin to the expressionism of the Beat Generation.

Science Friction consists of animated paintings and collages of photo clippings from various newspapers( most of which is of then-President Eisenhower), combined in a form of organic development. This short is a non-verbal political satire, reflecting society, the mass media and scientific inquiry: “A social satire aimed at the rockets, scientists, and competitive mania of our time.

You can buy Visible Films, Stan Vanderbeek.

Spin Cicle

A short animation featuring a spinning slice of bread by Jeff Scher with music by Shay Lynch. This was made for a gallery show of films and paintings about bread.

As an underground filmmaker, Scher uses lights, abstractions and visual effects all paired with music to create experimental short films. His films have been described as animated still life as they are made from various drawings in which the images change to trigger responses within the human mind. He uses his paintings and collages by overlapping the colors and textures to seem as if they are in fact “moving” in a hypnotic fashion. Images of influential behaviorists, Hermann Rorschach and Ivan Pavlov, appear in some of his films. The films are highly irrational in their juxtapositions, but this is the intention of the filmmaker. Scher wants his viewers to create their own stories from the visuals he provides.