Stranded in Horror
"I am continually struck and amused by nature documentaries' almost compulsive tendency to try to comfort us instead of leaving us stranded in existential horror, where we belong." That's the super talented animator Jim Trainor speaking in conversation with Irene Borger on the just-launched website showcasing this year's Alpert Award winners. Trainor, who often draws his surreal stories with a black marker on white paper, won an award in the film category for his eerie, disturbing and exquisite hand-drawn animations. The website (which was created with support from the IML, which I oversee), features sections on each winner; Trainor's section includes eight video clips showcasing the animator's work, as well as the full version of The Bats, which chronicles the haphazard, highly sexual coming of age story of one young flying mammal. He learns to pluck worms, go echoing and understand the laws put forth by god. He also learns how sub-species of bats hunt and kill each other. The beauty of the film is the marriage of high and low, of fundamental philosophical concepts with images that look like kids' drawings. The story is also sooo deftly told, even though it sounds like a child's narrative. The film's soundtrack might better be called a soundscape, rich with the cawing, squeaking whistling bat noises. Chit, chit, chit. Aak. Aak. Brrrl. Brrrl. It's probably going too far to call the film an allegory, but it's definitely something more than what it appears.
Borger, who is a writer as well as director of the Alpert Awards, talks with Trainor about his jittery drawing style, connections to other animators, including Robert Breer and Lewis Klahr, and his penchant for transgressive themes. Overall, the collection of questions, answers, images and video clips, as well as the full version of The Bats, offers a rich introduction to this groundbreaking artist and his unique body of work.
