Shock, Fear, and Belief: Te Films and Videos of Madi Piller Edited by Clint Enns and Mike Hoolboom Shock, Fear, and Belief: Te Films and Videos of Madi Piller Shock, Fear, and Belief: Te Films and Videos of Madi Piller First Edition published December 2016. Pleasure Dome http://www.pdome.org Pleasure Dome is made possible through the generous support of: e Canada Council for the "rts# the $ntario "rts Council and the !ity of &oronto through the &oronto "rts Council as well as our members# sponsors and community partners. !redits Edited b% Clint Enns and 'ike Hoolboom Designed b% Clint Enns !op% edited b% Cameron 'oneo "ll images * 'adi Piller unless otherwise noted. "ll images remain * of their respective authors. "ll texts remain * of their respective authors and are used with consent. Front co+er photo: Untitled, 1925 -2016.. /ac( co+er illustration: Madi Piller -2016. b% 0eslie 1upnet. 21/3: 45670746621187679 Table of Contents 2ntroduction ... 2 !lint Enns and 'ike )oolboom nimated Self-Portraits "nimating !ommunit% ... 9 !lint Enns "nimated 1elf-Portraits / Autoportraits Anim:s ... 6 0etters and Ephemera ... 17 2 Felt 0ike an Octopus: An 2nterview with 'adi Piller ... 29 'ike )oolboom rowing ;oices: 'adi Piller and John 1traiton ... 98 1tephen /roomer Vi"e Le Film " )istor% of the Dead and the 0ong 0iving ... 50 -!opied and Pasted) !hristine 0ucy 0atimer $ntitled, 1925 Following 1outh ... 60 1tephen /roomer "midst Dust and !haos ... 63 >enne 1peers Photo 1eries ... 65 'adi Piller 'ovies ... 100 !ompiled b% 'ike )oolboom /iograph% ... 108 1 )ntrod*ction !lint Enns and 'ike )oolboom /e%ond the Pleasure Dome# in the various underground cinemas where comrades gather to watch ?lms, lies the realm of the unknown, the space in which strange and unique visions are realized. Despite the Bo% of creation, art ma(ing can be @uite difcult and, as the song goes, we often get b% with a little help from our friends. 2n addition to being a wonderful moving image artist# 'adi Piller is one of the most generous people wor(ing in the &oronto moving image communit%. 1he embodies selfessness, alwa%s willing to provide an e%e# an ear# and a shoulder# in addition to friendship and resources# to any artist wor(ing in the fringe moving image scene. )er encouragement of other artists' practices has led to the creation of a substantial number of fringe moving image wor(s, including the artwor( commissioned for her maBor curatorial proBects, namely# Eleven in 'otion -2009)# )ello Amiga -2012)# $P "F& Fe72maged -2014)# and e Frame is the Ge%frame -2016). 'adi began her wor( on the other side of the lens, as a producer of commercials in !olombia. A chance &oronto connection led her to the grail of super 6# and the small miracle of E,clusive Film 0ab -and the 1plice is! Fest.# twin engines of practice that helped bring her to !anada# where she embraced a materialist practice. 1teeped in the frame7b%7frame wonders of animation, her wor( began to migrate between analogue video# digital wa% stations, and ?lm emulsion. )er animated comrades taught her that the best movies were short# condensations of e,perience# whether ofering personal portraits, landscape reta(es, or abstract reveries. is publication was a response to 'adiJs new black and white trilog%# a wor( inspired b% her grandfatherJs long ago tre( from Fomania to Peru# and of course b% the inner and outer tre(s she has made as an artist. 1heJs entered a new moment of prolifc risk7ta(ing# ofering up a lifetime of close attentions with t%pical generosit%. Ke at Pleasure Dome are so pleased to be able to present her wor( on a special evening when weJll all raise a glass and wonder how she managed it. For those who couldn’t ma(e the show# no worries, the pages to come bear witness, and of course there are the movies themselves: living memorials, dream science. 2 nimated Self-Portraits "m% 0oc(hartEs 1elf7Portrait from Animated Self-Portraits / Autoportraits Animés. 3 nimatin+ Comm*nity !lint Enns Animated Self-Portraits / Autoportraits Animés -2012. is a collaborative animation in which eight%7four artists were asked to produce twelve paper illustrations to be animated into short loops forming an omnibus of !anadian animator self-portraits. e images were brought to life b% 'adi Piller on a modifed 35mm animation stand setup in animation legend Eugene FedorenkoEs living room.1 e animators who contributed represent a wide spectrum of animation practices in !anada. 1ome of the animators wor(ed for the 3F/ -3ational Film /oard of !anada.# others wor(ed in animation studios# and others wor(ed totally independent of any studio or institution. e wor( is both a celebration of animation made in !anada and a document of the various st%les emplo%ed b% !anadian animators, with the short segments forming a larger self-portrait# namely# a portrait of !anadian animation. is wor( is historically signifcant given the legacy of !anadian animation left b% 3orman 'cLaren -whose portrait appears in the ?lm. and the 3F/. 2n 1942, 'cLaren was put in charge of the 3F/Es animation department# transforming the landscape of !anadian animation b% hiring some of the most creative animators. 1ince that point# !anada has garnered a reputation for producing innovative and imaginative animation. )istorically# animation has struggled to gain legitimacy among the traditional arts due to its mode of production and its association with cartoons. Animated Self-Portraits attempts to remove this perceived cultural divide. e diverse selection of animators -many of whom are thought of as artists not animators) eliminates notions around high and low animation or distinctions between animation as art and animation as cartoon. 'oreover# b% only emplo%ing twelve frames, all of the animators are forced into the position of the independent animator. Animated Self-Portraits was a return to handmade animation techniques for many of the animators, since many of them are now wor(ing digitall%. All of the portraits in Animated Self-Portraits were made using hole7punched paper and alignment pegs, with each image literally bearing the mar( of its author. e twelve images, together with animatorEs instructions, were sent to Piller through the mail, further reinforcing the material nature of the wor(.2 Finally# the individual portraits were compiled b% Piller and animated on FedorenkoEs 35mm animation stand. 1 Eugene Fedorenko and Fose 3ewlo+e animated the >enie "ward7winning flm Village of Idiots -1444. on this stand. 2 2nteresting to note, 'c0aren's frst animation gig was with the LG >eneral Post $Cce ->P$. flm unit, a division under the leadership of John >rierson, who would later found the 3F/# and hire 'c0aren. 4 is proBect is clearly a labor of love and it is an understatement to sa% that without PillerEs generosit%# devotion, and communit% engagement# this proBect would not have been possible. As local animation legend Dave !o, e,plains, Kith some irony# 2 had titled m% segment S!an Song# insinuating m% departure from the industr%# due to m% declining e%esight due to the onset of m% diabetes. 2 had resisted 'adi's re@uests to participate in this ?lm MAnimated Self-PortraitsN but she was adamant# more persistent# and so ver% encouraging that 2 struggled to complete m% little segment# with magnifying glasses and lifetime memories. /ig thanks to 'adi. e animators who participated in the proBect are represented on the following pages and include: 1. Ed Ackerman 2. Gimberly Anderson 3. 1tephen Andrews 4. Killy "shworth 8. 1hira "+ni 6. !ordell /ar(er 5. !arol /eecher O Ge+in Guritni( 8. Ellen /esen 9. 'arc /eurteau, 10. <im !aswell 11. 0uc !hamberland 12. 'artine !hartrand 13. Elisa !hee 14. 'arilyn !herenko 15. !laude !loutier 16. Fichard !ondie 17. Da+e !o, 16. 1iloPn Dale% 14. Paul Driessen 20. Jacques Drouin 21. F:li, Dufour70aperriQre 22. "nn 'arie Fleming 23. 3ick Fo,7>ieg 24. 'ike >eiger 25. 1uAanne >ervais 26. Joseph >illand 27. John )alfpenny 28. /r%ce )allett 29. )eather )ar(ins 30. !hris )inton 31. !o )oedeman 32. 0arr% Jacobs 33. Patrick Jenkins 34. 1usan Justin 35. 1haron GatA 36. Jody Gramer 37. Pasquale 0a'ontagna 38. Elizabeth 0ewis 39. Arnie 0ipse% 40. James 'acSwain 41. "m% 0ockhart 42. !raig 'archall 43. Krik 'ead 44. 'argaret 'oores 45. 0isa 'orse 46. 3orman 'cLaren 47. 'artha 3ewbigging 48. 'arv 3ewland 49. >ail 3oonan 50. Diane Obomsawin 51. 0uc Otter 52. 2riz PRRbo 53. Alan Pa(arnik 54. 1%lvie Paradis 55. 2shu Patel 86. 'ichQle PauA: 85. <anet Perlman 86. 'adi Piller 84. GaB Pindal 60. David FatAlaf 61. Fick Fa,len 62. "ubr% Fee+es 63. Fichard Feeves 64. Janice 1chulman 65. Joseph 1herman 66. !live 1mith 67. 0%nn 1mith 68. 'ichael 1now 69. John 1traiton 70. 'alcom 1utherland 71. 1uAie 1%nnott 72. ):lène &angua% 73. Paul &eglas 74. JeI &ran 75. Almerinda &ravassos 76. 'arie7):lène &urcotte 76. >eorge Lngar 78. 'ike Keiss 79. !raig Kelch 80. John Keldon 81. /arbara Khitmer 82. 0%nn Kilton 83. /ob Kiseman 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 ) Felt Like an Octo-*s: An Inter"ie. with Madi Piller 'ike )oolboom -October 2016) 29 Mike: One of %our earliest movies was shot on super 8 in !olombia and features pop phenom 1ha(ira. Madi: 2 was wor(ing as the producer at a large ad agency. "n opportunit% came up to ma(e a &; commercial with 1ha(ira. e creative departmentJs idea was to mimic a music video that L2 did when the% pla%ed on a Datbed truck that drove through the streets of 3ew Sor( -TAll /ecause of Sou#U 3ovember 2004).