Some might call Jonathan Dueck’s work unusual — he draws, paints, and scratches on old 16mm movies, then projects them with accompaniment from unique, specially curated musical pieces — but we think of it as artistically clever recycling. Over the last four years Jonathan has completed over 20 of his handmade films, and his sonic collaborators have ranged the gambit from feverish drone-artists I Heart Lung to experimental solo popster Chad VanGaalen. Jonathan plans to self-release the entire collection as a CD/DVD package, which includes a 50+ page booklet of full-color stills. Beautiful to both our eyes and ears!

Check out what Jonathan had to say about his project below. Support it here. 

Where did you come up with this idea? What inspired you to start doing this? 

If I really think about it I think it all started way back in high school.  Grade 11 or 12.  In my school we had an option to create our own course for a semester.  Not many people actually did this, but my art teacher suggested that I think of something to do for this and present it to her and the principal.  One day she showed some Norman McLaren films in class and the whole idea of camera-less animation took hold of my imagination.  So I spent a whole semester working on two short films with synched soundtracks that I made on cassette tapes.  To watch the films properly somebody had to start the cassette player at the same time as the film projector.  It was really lo-tech…I guess nothing has changed that much with this project except now I have a computer to help me synch the sound tracks!  After high school and later in art school I didn’t work very much with film or animation except for a couple isolated projects here and there.  Then in 2006 I really wanted to work on a longer term project for some reason so I contacted Chris Schlarb (of I Heart Lung, Xn.) and asked him if he wanted to do a project with me using camera-less animation and his incredible talent with improvised music.  I’ve always been inspired by his guitar playing and ear for sound and I thought that his style would go really well with some of these films that I was working on.  Anyway after a year of working on these I thought it would be fun to expand the project to include some other musicians/artists.  I ended up making a lot of work for myself!

You have a really interesting list of collaborators — tell me a bit more about what it was like to work with them!

Well first let me explain the simple system that we all worked within.  Once I chose the people I wanted to work with and they agreed, I started working on 5 separate films for each artist.  Once I finished a set I would send it to the intended artist while I worked on the next set.  Each artist did not prepare anything until they saw the actual films I had made for them.  Each artist responded really differently to the task, though.  When I first asked Chad to be part of the project  I only had some clips of what I was working on for I Heart Lung.  I didn’t have any sound or anything for them, but I brought these clips to his house to show him what I might give him to work on. After seeing the initial clips he knew right away that he was going to use these new analog synths that he was building in his basement.  Out of everyone’s soundtracks on this project his are the most “illustrative.”  I Heart Lung’s contribution really capture the feeling of the images and pay close attention to the sweeping movements of them.  They made these super short films feel really grand and epic. DENEIR responded slowly over time sending one piece at a time.  Each one he made was well worth the wait, and I think he really captured the violence and dread that is felt with the rough physical treatment of the films themselves.  Ryan of Son Lux responded with a whole bunch of pieces inspired by the group of films as a whole.  We then worked together choosing which of his soundtracks would go best with specific films and then he went back and edited them to fit.  Ryan was the most professional of the group.  He was a pleasure to work with.

You’re interested in collaborative art — what’s the difference in experience between making art with other people/a community versus on your own? Is one better than the other to you? 

I think what I like best about collaborating with others or being in the public is the opportunity for improvisation.  You go into a project with a certain pre-determined structure, but there is so much freedom within that structure that I am always surprised and inspired by what happens during.  When I am working with others I never know what to expect and it really challenges me to grow as an artist and a person.  Its really exciting to me. Lately, I have been working on a few projects on my own in my studio and it is a very different experience entirely.  I enjoy both for different reasons.  When I work on my own I can really focus in on a specific idea and explore that in whatever way I want.  When I work with others it can’t only be about me.  Often ideas that I work on by myself evolve into larger projects that I want to work on with others.  I wouldn’t say that one is better than the other.  Each way of working has its pros and cons.  Maybe that answer is too diplomatic?

What do you see yourself doing next? More work with film — or would you like to move in another direction?

I think I will take a break from working with film like this for a while.  It is a pretty labour intensive way of working.  One minute of film would take me probably two weeks of pretty long days to complete.  I will be printing large images taken from stills of these films for different gallery shows that I have coming up.  Also, I am working on presenting a new 20 minute edit of the films in a live setting where I would invite a configuration of local musicians to improvise a live soundtrack over the films to an audience.

I have also been working on whole bunch of work around a series of dioramas that I’m making where I am the central character in a life-threatening or dangerous situation.  There is one where I am rescuing a small child from an erupting volcano.  I seem to be pretty obsessed with these right now because I am making prints, photographs, large drawings, animations, and short stories all based around these things.

How have people responded to your use of Kickstarter so far? 

Kickstarter has been such a huge surprise and encouragement to me.  A bunch of people that I don’t know have backed the project already, and some others have given way more than I would ever have expected.  It has been a positive experience all around.  I have found that the more excited about the project that I am the easier it is for other people to engage in it.

Closing Thoughts? 

I just feel so honoured to have worked with these incredible musicians on this project.  I think everyone should support them by checking out their newest material:
- Black Mold (Chad VanGaalen)”Snow Blindness is Crystal Ants”
- I Heart Lung “Interoceans”
- DENEIR “Nowhen”
- Son Lux “At War with Walls and Mazes”

Also thanks to my amazing wife Heather for being great.

Journalist Jamin Brophy-Warren is the man behind Kill Screen, a new gaming publication recently funded on Kickstarter. Kill Screen aims to be more Paris Review than Game Pro by approaching video game writing as more than just a buyer’s guide. Jamin and his partners see gaming for what it is: a cultural phenomenon that’s genuinely unmatched in the entertainment space, where games can generate $3 billion worth of sales in just days, and an incredibly fertile ground for interactive art and new kinds of storytelling.

Kill Screen has been getting some attention — Wired ran a very complimentary profile today in fact. Jamin’s background as a reporter for both the Wall Street Journal and Pitchfork — the only man alive who can make that claim — certainly helps, as does the fact that Kill Screen is tapping into something that’s been genuinely overlooked.

Last week we sent Jamin some questions about his project. Read his responses below.

So let’s start off with the biggie: I heard you quit a job as a reporter at the Wall Street Journal so you could run Kill Screen fulltime. Is this for real?

Ha!  Well, sort of.  Earlier this year, I had dinner with Chris Dahlen and some other videogame writers and we all complained that something like Kill Screen (then a nameless, amorphous blob) didn’t exist.  We talked about doing something over the next few months, gathered the writers, convinced Tony Smyrski (our design guy) to jump on board, and put together a working draft.  But I couldn’t run something like this as a reporter for the Journal and I had been commuting back and forth from New Haven where my wife is a grad student.  The travel was killing me, so it seemed like a good time to launch something new personally and creatively.  I think about Kill Screen full-time, but since I have yet to monetize a penny for my thoughts, the venture only pays me in smug self-satisfaction.

What’s been lacking in video game writing to date?

There’s a big focus on immediacy.  Clearly, there’s nothing wrong with that, but writing on the web works best with speed and volume.  That’s not always conducive to thoughtful writing and reporting and larger publications are still skittish about videogame content on their pages.  They’ll do their one big game story a year (or two years) and then never return to the subject.  That’s pushed a lot of game writing in a similar direction.  To be clear, there’s plenty of good writing around the web and our hope is to combine some of the homegrown talent with folks with traditional print experience (like me).  But really, there’s a need for longer, exegetical, and confesional work on videogames, but not from a solely academic background.  So we’re treating this like a book and less like a magazine.  People will read things at length, provided it’s presented to them in a seductive manner.

Can you cite some articles for us to check out that you feel handle writing about gaming well?

Sure — here’s three. Tom Bissell (who wrote a piece for us) did an excellent profile on Cliff Bleszinski, the lead designer for the “Gears of War” franchise.  Daniel Radosh’s New York Times Magazine piece on Beatles Rock Band is phenomenal as well the Jason Fagone’s profile of Jason Rohrer.

What role — if any — do you think Kickstarter should play in these worlds going forward?

Well, to launch projects like ours!  But I think there are a wide variety of intersections between other mediums and videogames that have yet to be tapped.  Offworld had this great link to the work of a group called the Alaskan Miliary School.  They distill videogame sequences down a set of monochromatic squares, so the games are still recognizable, but only in the simplest fashion.  Projects like that could work well.  Videogame translation projects, such as the massive one for Mother 3/Earthbound 2 for NES, could find new life (and funding!) on Kickstarter.

What are you playing now? And can you recommend a couple great iPhone games?

Well, I started Borderlands with my little brother since I’m home for Thanksgiving.  Actually, my whole family is going to be going through the New Super Mario Bros. Wii.  It’s a yearly tradition — last year, it was Call of Duty: World at War.  My father is surprisingly adept at videogames which I discovered recently was intentional.  He called it “PlayStation Parenting.” 

I hate to admit it, but I don’t have an iPhone.  I have a Touch that my wife uses, but I got hooked on the Blackberry while I was at the Journal.  I definitely think there’s some residual videogame bias for me.  I like the contour of buttons.  Sadly, Steve Jobs does not.