Paul Bush © Timo Viljakainen
Artists' Present
Retrospective: Paul Bush
Paul Bush (1956–2023) was an experimental filmmaker and an esteemed teacher, including at the National Film and Television School (UK) and the Lucerne School of Art and Design (Switzerland). He studied fine art, and only discovered animated film later on. He tirelessly explored the possibilities that animation offered him as an artist, often using the techniques of replacement and direct animation by scratching on film to create his distinctive oeuvre. His first replacement animation work was “Furniture Poetry”; later, he animated insects, various objects but also real actors in pixilation. With “Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde”, he created an impressive example of how an animation technique can underline the content of a film, in this case, the theme of multiple personalities. Paul Bush died in a motorcycle accident on 17 August 2023. In “Ride”, one of his last films, he animated motorbikes from a historical collection in Portugal. The remarkably humorous Paul would certainly have been delighted that we are showing “Ride”, including a making-of, in this retrospective celebrating his life’s work. Paul was an artist, friend, teacher, coach and critic whose voice and laughter will be greatly missed.
Appointments & Tickets
In the presence of
Gerd Gockell
Curated and moderated by
Regina Pessoa & Erik van Drunen
Language
*Introduction: In English and German
Supported by
Films
Still Life With Small Cup, Paul Bush, GB 1995, Still Life With Small Cup, Paul Bush, GB 1995
Still Life with Small Cup
A radical reworking of an etching by the Italian artist Giorgio Morandi, brought to life by engraving frame by frame directly into the photographic emulsion of colour filmstock. The viewer is taken on a journey through the etching, accompanied by the sounds that the artist might have heard from his window as he worked. Direction Paul Bush Duration 4' Year 1995
The Albatross, Paul Bush, GB 1998, The Albatross, Paul Bush, GB 1998
The Albatross
A ship sets sail on an epic voyage through malignant natural and supernatural elements from which one man alone survives. An adaptation of Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, illustrated by19th Century wood engravings which are animated by scratching directly into the surface of color filmstock. Direction Paul Bush Duration 14' Year 1998
Furniture Poetry, Paul Bush, GB 1999, Furniture Poetry, Paul Bush, GB 1999
Furniture Poetry
A playful philosophical piece, inspired by a Wittgenstein quotation: “What prevents me from supposing that this table either vanishes or alters its shape when no one is observing it and then when someone looks at it again changes back? But one feels like saying - who is going to suppose such a thing?” Direction Paul Bush Duration 5'
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Paul Bush, GB 2001, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Paul Bush, GB 2001
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
The camera suffers from a psychosis similar to human schizophrenia; this disorder subtly alters every single frame of the film, while the narrative remains superficially intact. A reworking of the 1941 classic “Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde”, in which the actors are replaced in every single frame. Direction Paul Bush Duration 6' Country United Kingdom Year 2001
Busby Berkeley’s Tribute to Mae West, Paul Bush, GB 2002, Busby Berkeley’s Tribute to Mae West, Paul Bush, GB 2002
Busby Berkeley's Tribute to Mae West
Hollywood’s most famous choreographer meets one of her most famous quotes: “Is that a gun in your pocket?” Direction Paul Bush Duration 2' Language English Country United Kingdom Year 2002
While Darwin Sleeps, Paul Bush, GB 2004, While Darwin Sleeps, Paul Bush, GB 2004
While Darwin Sleeps...
Each of the 3000 single frames shows an insect. As the colours on their bodies and wings glow and change, it seems as if the genetic process of millions of years is taking place in a few minutes, defying the arguments of evolutionary biologists and fundamentalists. It is like a mescaline dream of Charles Darwin. Direction Paul Bush Duration 5' Language English Country United Kingdom Year 2005
Central Swiss, Paul Bush, GB 2006, Central Swiss, Paul Bush, GB 2006
Central Swiss
On 11 & 12 February 2006 at the ski resort of Klewenalp the portraits of Swiss men, women and children are captured with a time lapse camera. Inhabitants of central Switzerland head for the mountains, arrive in cars, trains, boats and buses, queue for the cable car, and then ski, snowboard, toboggan, eat, drink and fall asleep. Direction Paul Bush Duration 7' Country United Kingdom Year 2006
RIDE, Paul Bush, PT 2018, RIDE, Paul Bush, PT 2018
RIDE
A tribute to 1950s motorcycle design, in which hundreds of real motorbikes are animated frame by frame as a rider departs on an idealized journey into the countryside. Direction Paul Bush Duration 6' Country Portugal Year 2018
Animation
Paul Bush
Music
Conjunto Típico do Val
Sound design
Andy Cowton
Ride: Making Of, Paul Bush, GB/PT 2018, Ride: Making Of, Paul Bush, GB/PT 2018
RIDE: Making Of
As the title suggests, this is the making-of of “Ride”, filmed in a private motorcycle collection in northern Portugal. Duration 6' Country United Kingdom, Portugal Year 2018
Orgiastic Hyper-Plastic, Paul Bush, GB/DK 2020, Orgiastic Hyper-Plastic, Paul Bush, GB/DK 2020
Orgiastic Hyper-Plastic
An elegy to a love affair that has gone sour, a fond farewell to that most beautiful material that has subjugated our planet: plastic. Direction Paul Bush Duration 7' Country Denmark Year 2020
Music
Andy Cowton