Miles Kalbach

A recent discovery on MyToons and YouTube, Miles Kalbach is a claymation animator and graphic artist with a delightfully creepy style. He's also pulling something here in this claymation experiment titled 'Metamutography' that I've not seen often...panning the camera 'round his subject. Nice.

According to his site, he's the '13th and final child' born to his folks in 1981, hopelessly hooked on metal and currently calls Philly his stomping grounds. I've got his Youtube page subscribed...gonna keep an eye on this one. More later.

TAIS board meeting

Just a quick mornin' post to let everyone know Madi Piller, TAIS head honcho, has called a meeting for TAIS board members Thursday, Jan. 24th at 6:30 p.m. at TAIS H. Q. Lots to talk about and plan out for the coming year, lookin' forward to it. Later!

TAIS events: January update!

Just got the latest TAIS newsness down the pipe, courtesy of Madi. Heads up!

Toronto Animated Image Society

1) Events:
1.1- When Comix and Journalism Collide
1.2-Allyson Mitchell Installation.
2) Workshops:
2.1-Stop Motion Animation – Puppet Building
3) Job Posting:
3.1- Independent Media Arts Alliance Ontario (IMAA ON):Event Coordinator
3.2- Animation Teachers: Work in China
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1) Events:

1.1 When Comix and Journalism Collide

Journalistic graphic novel portrays the dirty business of global
resource extraction in the 21st century.
http://www.cumuluspress.com/extraction
Cumulus Press recently released a new title EXTRACTION! Comix Reportage.
This ‘graphic novel’ started with four journalistic stories (by PetrCizek, Dawn Paley, Sophie Toupin and Tamara Herman) about the mining industry. These stories were scripted then handed over to four commix artists (Ruth Tait, Phil Angers, Stanley Wany, and 2007 Doug Wright Award winner, Joe Ollmann) to create a multi-styled comic book about mining that, according to Joe Sacco, “is the perfect idea for a graphic treatment.”

TORONTO Tuesday, January 29, 2008
COMIX JAM The Cameron House, 408 Queen Street West
LAUNCH 8:00 p.m. info: 416-703-0811

1.2-Allyson Mitchell
Hungry Purse

An installation by Allyson Mitchell
Hungry Purse: the vagina dentata in late capitalism (2006-07) is a labour intensive, room-sized installation that plays with colour and design, consumption and sexuality. Its fundamental concept, vagina dentata, represents some of our most profound individual and collective fears. From floor to ceiling this installation will at once comfort and cocoon, with large pink pillows and soft carpeting, while at the same time create feelings of unease as visitors confront fears of claustrophobia, mortality and voracious appetites.

Now to March 16, 2008
Textile Museum of Canada

55 Centre Avenue (St. Patrick subway)
Toronto, ON M5G 2H5
t. 416-599-5321
f. 416-599-2911
info@textilemuseum.ca
www.textilemuseum.ca <http://www.textilemuseum.ca/>

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2) Workshops:
2.1-Stop Motion Animation – Puppet Building
Saturday : February 02 , 2008
10 – 5 PM
A basic course teaching how to build your own stop-motion animation puppet. From simple wire armature techniques to exploring more advance armatures and how they are built.
Ideas about design and function as well as practicality of materials and techniques will be covered in detail, sharing knowledge from the instructor’s personal animation industry and independent filmmaking experience.
All materials included.
Instructor : Mike Weiss

Born and raised in Southern Ontario, Mike studied Classical Animation at Oakville's Sheridan College. In the fall of his graduating year, he performed at the Ottawa International Animation Festival in the scratch-on-film troupe, 'Scratch Track'. Since then Mike has worked on and helped initiate several short films, music videos, and television programs utilizing a variety of animation techniques, though he most enjoys working in the tangible 3 dimensions of stop-motion. In 2005 he worked on the animated short, "Ray Harryhausen Presents: The Pit and the Pendulum", for which he was tickled to receive praise from the legend himself.

Mike's own stop-motion animated short film, "Inheritance" has been screened in festivals throughout North America and Europe, including its debut at the Ottawa International Animation Festival and its inclusion in the animation industry publication Stash magazine. He is currently working on his follow-up film with the National Film Board.

Cost : $ 50 Non-Members
$ 35 Members
Enrollment is Limited to 8

Enroll NOW ! : e-mail: tais@bellnet.ca
Subject: Workshops

MORE WORKHOPS TO BE ANNOUNCED !

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3) Jobs:

3.1- Independent Media Arts Alliance Ontario (IMAA ON)

Event Coordinator
3 month part time contract position
Independent Media Arts Alliance Ontario (IMAA ON)
Location- Toronto
IMAA Ontario is an informal arts service organization dedicated to the advancement of the independent media arts in Ontario. IMAA Ontario is hiring an Event Coordinator to organize a one day summit to be held in early April. In coordination with the organizing committees, the ideal candidate will have a minimum two years experience and knowledge of Ontario’s media arts environment.
Duties will be:
_ Extend invitations to all Ontario media artists, delegates, arts administrators, educators, arts officers and politicians;
_ Arrange travel and accommodation for delegates
_ Secure event venues and sponsorships
_ Coordinate reception, think-tank and event;
_ Create promotional materials and press releases and webpage;
_ Maintain records and book keeping
_ Coordinate day's events; write final report.

The candidate must be well organized, self directed, flexible and able to work from home under the general direction of the Event committees. Staring February 1, 2008.

DEADLINE: January 15, 2008
Info: lfeesey@rogers.com <mailto:lfeesey@rogers.com>

2.2- Animation Teachers : Work In China

See www.tais.ca <http://www.tais.ca/> under classified

------------------------------
Toronto Animated Image Society
60 Atlantic Avenue, suite 102
Toronto, Ontario
M6K 1X9

tais@bellnet.ca
www.tais.ca
416-533-7889

David O'Reilly

Quick post about Irish experimental animator David O'Reilly, whose style o' choice has been dubbed by the fine folk at Boing Boing as 'VectorPunk', reminiscent of early experimental 3d, but with an 8-bit videogame edge that wraps the whole thing up in lo-fi goodness. Here, his characters give a brief history of animation timing that makes a whole shitload o' sense once ya let it sink in. Courtesy of Boing-Boing and Cartoon Brew. More of David's stuff later!

Cintiq 12wx-Gate...the followup

Apologies to all for not posting over the holidays...being down with the sickness ain't exactly conducive to finding animation goodies on the interwebs. However, Mark Dowsett over there at Vibe Computing was kind enough to keep me posted about the price problems with the 12wx, Wacom's drool-worthy new artist toy. Seems Mark did some back and forthing with Wacom and managed to get the price down to $1179 canuck bucks...it's still almost $200 over Wacom's suggested retail, but ya gotta remember that the retailers can't keep a load of these in stock...they're not gonna move like Ipods, after all. Plus, Vibe offers a demo program for y'all who want to kick the tires before drivin' this beauty off the lot.

I'd also like to point out that both Mark and the doods from Silicon Cowboys got back to me with prompt replies and emails...still waitin' on Vistek. So if you've got the dosh and wanna be flash-a-matin' like a crazy maniac, go get yerself one. Me, I gotta waits for the birthday. C'mon, April! And thanks once again to Mark Dowsett of Vibe Computing for the feedback and candor.

Chris Sanders

Much ado about Chris Sanders , 'Lilo and Stitch' director who had his feature, 'American Dog', yanked out from under his feet by one John Lasseter just after the whole Pixar/Disney amalgo. He's restarted his blog, and it's got news and stuff about what he's up to. Plus, he's got hot hula chicks. Nice. Go look, show him some love. Later! (bigger posts later, when I'm healthy n' stuff.)

EXTRACTION!

First off, apologies for the big fade this holiday...trust me, ya don't wanna know of the stygian heck that was what I laughingly call 'my holidays'. God-diddly-damn, but I'm glad to be back at work. And back to the bloggin! We'll start the new year with a new post courtesy of Ruth Tait...it's a Comix Jam at the Cameron House to celebrate EXTRACTION! a journo-comic about the mining industry. Read on, gentle blogvisitortypeperson...

-----------------------

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 3, 2008

When Comix and Journalism Collide …



Journalistic graphic novel portrays the dirty business of global
resource extraction in the 21st century.

TORONTO Tuesday, January 29, 2008
COMIX JAM The Cameron House, 408 Queen Street West
LAUNCH 8:00 p.m. info: 416-703-0811

http://www.cumuluspress.com/extraction

Cumulus Press recently released a new title EXTRACTION! Comix Reportage.
This ‘graphic novel’ started with four journalistic stories (by Petr
Cizek, Dawn Paley, Sophie Toupin and Tamara Herman) about the mining
industry. These stories were scripted then handed over to four comix
artists (Ruth Tait, Phil Angers, Stanley Wany, and 2007 Doug Wright
Award winner, Joe Ollmann) to create a multi-styled comic book about
mining that, according to Joe Sacco, “is the perfect idea for a graphic
treatment.”

Cumulus Press will launch this book of comix journalism within the
January edition of the Toronto Comix Jam, whose jammers will create
collective strips of journalism based on articles provided for the
evening. Here the challenge will persist between the ‘give’ of
verifiable facts and the ‘take’ of graphic interpretation, between the
‘push’ of fact-based details and the ‘pull’ of visual narrative. The
craft of comix journalism does not stem from the combination of text and
image, content and structure. It is the added meaning derived from the
interaction between the symbolic and the realistic, the literal and the
figurative that gives it strength.

The extraction of natural resources today is a dirty business. Since
2000, most energy and mineral prices are skyrocketing. Junior mining
prospectors and unscrupulous transnational corporations rush into new
territories to suck what’s hot out of the earth’s lucrative veins. In
today’s gas, oil and mining industries, the pace of exploration,
extraction, transformation and delivery of the world’s resources is mind
boggling. The German magazine Der Spiegel speaks of a Third World War
for the world’s resources. It is more like a blitzkrieg.

EXTRACTION! looks into the exploration, exploitation and extraction
gold, bauxite, uranium and oil, from a common-good social justice
perspective, in Guatemala, India, Québec and Alberta, respectively.

#3#

For special orders, review copies, please contact the publisher, David
Widgington, 514-523-1975, info@cumuluspress.com or Frédéric Dubois,
514-660-0664, frederic@reportero.org

EXTRACTION! Comix Reportage
Edited by Frédéric Dubois, Marc Tessier and David Widgington
ISBN 978-0-9782474-1-6
128 pages