Mad Quickies: Guy-Blaché Film Pioneer, Truitt Art Treatise, Okorafor Whitewashed, Babina Archiatric and More!
Hello hello, my friends. We’re still digging out here in the Northeast after a fairly unseasonal blizzard. For my friends in Colorado, this is just, y’know, Saturday. Despite that fact, I’m bringing you some lovely links. Let’s get to it!
Hugo-Winning author Nnedi Okorafor on how Hyperion/Disney tried to whitewash her book cover. You can buy “The Shadow Speaker” here. Via Critical Dragon
“Artists have no choice but to express their lives.” Anne Truitt on Resisting the Label “Artist” and the Difference Between Doing Art and Being an Artist.
Portland Anarchist Road Care or PARC is an anti-capitalism group that pushes back against governmental bureaucracy with positive actions.
Artist Sally Nixon illustrated a series of snapshots showing what women in unself-conscious moments. Relatable and beautifully done. Nixon’s instagram.
Artist Federico Babina interprets mental disorders through architecture in his series Archiatric. Video included.
Futuracha Pro is an open source font that changes shape as you type. The genius behind this is Odysseas Galinos-Paparounis and his studio Høly.
Nimuno Loops are a reusable adhesive tape that turns any surface into a base for LEGO projects. Clearly a product people want since their indiegogo goal of 8 grand reached over a million as I type this.
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Alice Guy-Blaché was a trailblazer in every aspect of cinema.
Video by Catherine Stratton.
More at wiki.
More at the National Women’s History Museum site.
https://vimeo.com/207343765
from the page
A comment on the film’s page by Gwendolyn Audrey Foster who has taught and written about Alice Guy:
It is important not to further victimize her. Yes, her husband cheated on her and swindled her out of the company, but she not only survived influenza, but In 1922 Guy chose to return to France, where she lectured widely on film and wrote magazine fiction and novelizations of film scripts. She wrote her autobiography and openly challenged those who wrote her out of film history. I have seen the letters she wrote on her own behalf in the Gaumont archive. She was able to rescue some of her prints (and her legacy) and she won the French Legion of Honor in 1953. She resettled in Mahwah, NJ, (where I lived, oddly enough) and she died there in 1968.
What is actually “tragic” is the rampant sexism in my field of film history, but this is changing finally. I see her as a triumph; one of the firsts in making sound films, color films; she began so many genres, she built her own studio, all while she raised a family, etc. There is a treasure trove of her work at the New Zealand Film Archive that I have seen. Her work is amazing. Gaumont put out a beautiful DVD set of her early work. In a way, Alice Guy is just getting started. Her work inspires so many film students! Again, great film, Catherine.
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Featured image is courtesy of Nnedi Okorafor.
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