Earmarked for Collision: A Highly Biased Tour of Collage Animation

Chris Robinson

May 2023 · CRC Press

About this ebook

Collage art and film date back to the early 20th century (the earliest collages have roots in 12th-century Japan). It was rooted in the age of consumerism where artists addressed an array of political and social issues by creating a carefully crafted collision of pre-existing images and sounds to generate new meanings and commentaries on the surrounding world.

Collage has also pushed the boundaries of animation, by incorporating other artistic forms (e.g., photography, live action, experimental cinema, literature, found sound) while exploring an array of social, cultural and political issues.

In Earmarked for Collision, award-winning writer Chris Robinson (The Animation Pimp, Mad Eyed Misfits, Unsung Heroes of Animation) takes us on a tour of the history of collage animation, cataloguing the collage works of notable artists like Larry Jordan, Harry Smith, Stan Vanderbeek, Terry Gilliam, Janie Geiser, Martha Colburn, Lewis Klahr, Run Wrake, Lei Lei, Kelly Sears, Jodie Mack, and many, many others.

About the author

Chris Robinson is a Canadian writer and author. He is also the Artistic Director of the Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) and is a well-known figure in the animated film world. In 2020, he was awarded for Outstanding Contribution to Animation Studies by the World Festival of Animation Film - Animafest Zagreb. In 2022, he received the Rene Jodoin Prix for his contributions to Canadian animation.

Robinson has been called “one of the stylistically most original and most provocative experts in the history of animation. He made a name for himself with a unique and eclectic magazine column Animation Pimp, which became a book of the same name. He is a frequent contributor to Cartoon Brew and Animation World Magazine.

Mastering different methods and styles in critical and scholarly approaches, Robinson covers a broad range of Canadian and global subject matters in his books Estonian Animation: Between Genius and Utter Illiteracy, Unsung Heroes of Animation, Canadian Animation: Looking for a Place to Happen, Ballad of a Thin Man: In Search of Ryan Larkin, Animators Unearthed, and Japanese Animation: Time out of Mind.

In addition to his writing on animation, Robinson also wrote the Award-winning animated short, Lipsett Diaries (2010) directed by Theodore Ushev, a graphic novel, My Balls are Killing Me, and a live-action feature script, Idling