Muybridge Revisited

Fulham
1986
Sound
5m

Iconic images by photo-pioneer Eadweard Muybridge come to life in this striking video collage.

Wrestling men and kicking mules feature alongside other jumping and lunging figures, all moving to hard electronic beats against a backdrop of buildings in Hammersmith and Fulham. Video artist George Snow used bold computer programming techniques to animate Eadweard Muybridge's 19th-century time and motion studies to stunning, psychedelic effect.

George Snow worked with the 1980s experimental pop group The Art of Noise; graphics from Muybridge Revisited can be seen in the video for the 12inch mix of their track Legs. Snow made the video with fellow artist George Barber. Muybridge's early photography remains a powerful inspiration to artists of all sorts. Steven Pippin was nominated for the 1999 Turner Prize for his exhibition Laundromat-Locomotion, in which he transformed 12 laundry machines into cameras, exploring time and motion in an aesthetic style reminiscent of the famous photographer. Muybridge himself lived an extraordinary life and was acquitted after shooting his wife's lover in the USA in 1874 on the grounds of 'justifiable homicide'.

The Animator's Art

Free from commercial restraints, animators explore their art

After WWII, animation was increasingly recognised as a vital art form in its own right. Commercial work put food on their plates, but animators longed for creative freedom, and many production companies and determined animators created independent works in between paid gigs. Unshackled from commercial concerns, the resulting films were often daring in their pursuit of abstraction or personal expression. Meanwhile, many artists from other media have found that animation adds a vital new dimension to their work. But while such films were celebrated in their community they were rarely shown more widely. This collection showcases often hard-to-see examples of the animator's art at its purest and most individual.