Max Hattler's Lecture for CalArts Structuring Stategies

            
Basement Jaxx: Where's Your Head At (by Max Hattler) from Max Hattler on Vimeo.

"I am interested in the space between abstraction and figuration, where storytelling is freed from the constraints of traditional narrative...While my films tend to be without dialogue, they explore the relationship between sound, music and the moving image." ~Max Hattler

This week, Max Hattler is a visiting artist at Calarts and will be working with the experimental animation students.  The stopping point will be at 4 on Saturday afternoon with a screening of the work created.
The question of how the artist labels himself came up, and like many artists of this new century, it's hard to define.  His father was a musician, and while not interested in taking on music or his father's footsteps, it seems as if Hattler often thinks like a musician in problem solving and creating his work.  As from the quote above, sound does play a big part in his creative process, often having the composition or soundscape created at the same time of the visual.  Once completed, the sound often influences the rest of the process of completing the piece.  This is not surprising since he has an interest in the "space between the abstract and figurative world" and music/sound seems to work in the same way.
Unlike many traditional animators, dealing with a storyboard and animatics is something that Hattler chooses not to do, feeling that this type of process constrains him.  His work has a spontaneous quality, and is performative due to his collaboration with musicians and live performance.  He stated that just like a musician, he wanted to be able to do studio work but then go out and perform it as well.

Max Hattler also has a desire to get his work out and seen by others.  He has collaborated with several bands, screened at numerous festivals and has had many solo exhibitions internationally.  It looks as if at this point, he is leaning toward more exploration of installations since "you can control the space" more.  What was of most interest of Max Hattler's screening last night, was his body of work is so diverse, yet his work always shows a sense of play and discovery.  It is as if he is composing with light and image instead of notes on a paper.

Update via Gina Marie Napolitan from Calarts--Come by C113 (next to the video studio) at 5pm today (1/29) and bear witness to a two-channel installation of mandala-style CG motion capture alchemy! A collaboration between visiting artist Max Hattler and a hard-working team of students from the Experimental Animation program. _______________________ _________________________________