Every Monday, Chris Robinson serves up Animators Unearthed, a brief introduction to prominent and not-so-prominent indie animators. Today: Andreas Hykade
'Ring of Fire' by Andreas Hykade
My neighbour used to be heard mumbling “there’s only trouble and desire” over and over again. He was nuts but he was right. Always chasing time instead of living it. What happens when the now suddenly vanishes? You’re confused, angry, and lost. You don’t know where to turn because you don’t know where you are. You’re not prepared. You get angry and lash out. You want to hurt what hurt you. Isn’t that why the boy burns the dandelion girl, the cowboy beats the angel, the boy kills the rabbit? Why this burn burn burning desire? Lacan said it was all a ruse. When we were little pissers we think we’re at one with the world. Then we see our mug in the mirror, see that we’re separate from everything around us, and spend the rest of our lives trying to become one again. Course, along the way, it’s also being ingrained in our noggins that we’re incomplete. First came the church, then came the advertisers Dirty, soul sucking con men (themselves doin the deed just to preserve their own desires) telling us we’re no good without god, the bible or a bar of fucking dove soap. Meantime they’re snorting and guffawing as they guzzle the holy water and thrust their lust sticks in places they don’t belong. We all have the beast inside.
Good. Beauty. Truth, value judgements all of ‘em; given meaning and relevance only by us. To further the myth we create fictional characters to back it up: God. Jesus. Santa Claus. Obama. Icons of perfection. Flawless truth and beauty. Good God. Bad Devil. Beauty Ugly. Life death. You can’t have one without the other. Ying yang. We also created icons of imperfection too. Dean, Monroe, Cobain, and Elvis. Lost souls and all that shit. No in-betweens. We’re hell bent on living in one of these either/or states. Hykade’s work tries to sort through the extremes, to come to terms with the fact that there is no pure good or evil, just faulty liner notes to get us by.
As some 15th century Italian poet told us, to find heaven, you have to go through hell. You stumble before you rise. Hykade uses the dirt and darkness of the past as soil to fertilize a future of light, darkness, and hope, with a bit of bread with honey and jam on it.
A well-known figure in the world of independent animation, writer, author & curator Chris Robinson is the Artistic Director of the Ottawa International Animation Festival.
