Media: Artzybasheff's Machinalia

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 6 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great posts about golden age illustration.

In his introduction to the section titled "Machinalia" in his book As I See, Boris Artzybasheff says, "I am thrilled by machinery's force, precision and willingness to work at any task, no matter how arduous or monotonous it may be. I would rather watch a thousand ton dredge dig a canal than see it done by a thousand spent slaves lashed into submission. I like machines."




Making of Steel: Charging the Open Hearth


Tapping a Heat of Steel


Filling Ingot Molds


The Soaking Pit


The Blooming Pit


The Rod Mill


Hydraulic Press


Stranding of Wire Rope


Weaving of Fence Fabric


Wire Drawing Machines


Spring Forming Presses


Wire Cloth Looms


Navy's Mark III Calculator


Executive of the Future

Recently, I was asked by a visitor to the Archive what relevance half century old cartoons and magazine illustrations have to the current animation scene. Well, this question is best answered with an example... Look at these amazing designs by Boris Artzybasheff originally published in the 1950s, and look at this clip from Fleischer's 1937 cartoon "Lost And Foundry" (Quicktime 7 / 10 megs). It doesn't take a great deal of imagination to be able to picture what a sequence in a current CGI film would look like if it had designs like Artzybasheff's and animation like the Fleischers'.

For more amazing images from "As I See", see Artzybasheff's Neurotica and Diablerie

PLEASE NOTE The text and media files on the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Blog are not to be duplicated, redistributed or hosted on other websites without the prior written permission of the Board of Directors of ASIFA-Hollywood.

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive

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