04.28.09
What Michael Cesarcyck Says Regarding The Wolfean Appetites Of Alex Itin (Orson Whales, Hub, Frost Bite, and The Phonometricians On Cosmic Fire)
Orson Whales from Alex Itin on Vimeo.
Alex Itin will never die of boredom, and should you find yourself in the presence of his art, you are likely to have the same security.
An intensely engaging man of Wolfean appetites and ambitions, Itin seems intent not only on consuming the entire world, but remaking it in his own image, inch by inch if need be.
He has been active in New York’s underground art scene for years and is best known for viral videos blending music, original skeletal animation and classic movie clips in stream-of-consciousness narratives. “Orson Whales”, the most popular of these pieces, ecstatically interweaves parts of Citizen Kane with surreal animation drawn on the pages of Moby-Dick, against a soundtrack including Led Zeppelin’s “Moby-Dick”, and Welles’ reading of the novel’s famous sermon from one of his unfinished films.
And yet the videos are just the tip of an exponential, Nereusian iceberg. Itin has a reputation for prodigality and an infectious enthusiasm for ideas. During an eight minute conversation at one of his exhibits, for instance, he discussed racial stratification in ancient Egypt, de Kooning’s sex life, the divinity of Brian Wilson, and the comparative merits of European and American wines. His work is no less kaleidoscopic. A recent exhibit at 17 Frost Street Space showcased a staggering versatility with media and styles.
Article by Michael Cesarcyck
Alex Itin Reading Hub With The Phonometricians On Cosmic Fire
Alex Itin Frost Bite Exhibit Photo Collection By JHM
alex Itin said,
April 29, 2009 at 6:03 am
OH yes. Michael was kind enough to share a rough draft of this with me a couple of weeks back. Very flattering.
ERATTA:
I am frequently bored and according to my girlfriend: frequently boring.
The Welles narration is actually from a youtube series of clips I found of an unreleased unfinished film that Orson was trying to make with the crews left over from commercial and t.v. shoots. It was to be a film version of his staged reading of King Lear that tuns into a staged reading of Moby Dick. The gimmick was that the actors are in London rehearsing Lear when someone brings in the freshly printed first edition of Moby Dick (so I guess the setting was London in 18 water it was that Moby DIck was published). I was looking for Orson’s sermon from the Houston film, but because of copywright or whatever it was not posted. In that search, however I sumbled on the Moby Dick reading AND the famous drunken Paul Mason champagne add. In Orson’s defence. He contracted to shoot all the year’s spots in a single day. I think the clip board says they are on take 108. You figure that’s a lot of sips of wine. In the end they used the visuals and he re looped the dialogue in a more sober condition.
mbumba said,
April 29, 2009 at 7:26 pm
Alex: we appreciate your addendum.