Anime world's eccentric, the genius Bickford's true identity Naohiro Ukawa x Nobuaki Doi

"Animation trends seen in Japan are biased". "GEORAMA 2016", a new animation festival launched by animation researcher Nobuaki Doi to explore the possibilities of unseen animation, will be held from February 2nd. This event, which attempts to expand and deviate from the concept of anime through co-starring across genres, has convened the legendary animator, Bruce Bickford. This prodigy, who once fascinated the musician Frank Zappa, will perform with unique Japanese musicians this time.

What is the appeal of Bickford's works, known as the most "eccentric" in the anime world? And what are the possibilities of independent animation that is different from the world-wide "Japanimation"?

In Japan, anime is established as an entertainment industry, so only works that are suitable for the market are known. (Doi)

-"GEORAMA" is a new animation festival that started in 2014. What was the concept behind its launch?

Doi: "Expansion and deviation of the concept of animation". Due to the high popularity of anime in Japan, there is a situation where only commercial anime is viewed. However, when I go to overseas animation film festivals, I see a wide variety of works being screened, and I can see a different world of animation from Japan. One of the purposes of the event was to introduce it in real time.

"GEORAMA2016" Main Visual ©New Deer / Yoko Kuno

-Is the perception of animation in Japan so biased?

Doi: For example, in today's independent feature animation scene around the world, it's now possible for even one person to create a feature-length animation using a digital production environment. . However, it is hardly covered in the Japanese media. Japan and the United States are countries where animation is established as an entertainment industry, but for that reason, only works that are marketable are known. On the other hand, in Europe, many works are created with subsidies, and very advanced works are being created outside the market.

-If all the animation is for the market, the contents of the work will be standardized. The festival name "GEORAMA" is a coined word, but what does it mean?

Doi: Combining "Geographic" and "Diorama", I came up with the idea that "animation is a miniature garden world that deeply reflects local imagination." rice field. Rather than a universal world, I perceive animation as something that gives shape to the region in which it was produced and the scenery in the artist's mind. This time, we featured Bruce Bickford, who is known as a legendary genius and eccentric in the anime world, in line with this idea. I asked him to curate a live collaboration between Bickford's anime and gorgeous musicians. I myself have learned the core animation context from Mr. Ukawa, so if I were to do Bickford, I couldn't think of anyone other than Mr. Ukawa.

From left: Nobuaki Doi, Naohiro Ukawa

Ukawa: No, no, no, praise killing? (smile). This time, we are planning a two-day event called "Channeling with Mr. Bickford." I was. My first encounter with Bickford was in the clay animation "The Amazing Mr. Bickford" (1987), which I co-directed with Frank Zappa.

―"The Amazing Mr. Bickford" is a grotesque and super-cult film in which all kinds of subjects on the screen, imbued with souls, wriggle and metamorphose like living organisms to the music of Frank Zappa. It is a clay animation work.

Bruce Bickford "Takamatsu Media Art Festival" installation view

Ukawa: When I was a child, I belonged to a generation that was captivated by the charm of clay animation through the Yakult “Mirumiru” commercial produced by Misseri Studio, a prestigious Italian animation production company. I received irreparable damage to the right brain due to the impact of meeting with. At that time, I had just started VJing at BOREDOMS live performances, and the processing power of PCs was still low. , was moving 3D animation of ray tracing (technology that simulates the reflection and reflection of light).

Doi: It's exactly the world of Bickford's animation (laughs).

Ukawa: That's right. That's why I was deeply impressed by his "one frame with blood and sweat". Moreover, both I and Mr. EY-Yo (BOREDOMS) were big fans of Bickford, so around 1989 we sampled his works and used them in our VJs. Mix it with the works of Crecle Tacora (1973-1974, Fuji TV special effects TV program) and Vince Collins (American cult animation writer). While projecting the zeitgeist in this way, I was deeply moved by replacing the honeymoon relationship between Zappa and Bickford with the "relationship between sound and picture" between BOREDOMS and myself (laughs). This time, the relationship is reversed, and what kind of image communication of this century will Japanese musicians add to Bickford's universe and image universe, just like the active benshi in silent movies?

Bruce Bickford

－Shintaro Sakamoto, smallBIGs (Keigo Oyamada + Yumiko Ohno), Tabito Nanao, Shugo Tokumaru, EY∃, Naruyoshi Kikuchi, Masaya Nakahara, KOM_I….

Ukawa: Of course, it's a premise that it's a "Bickford Cluster", but Keigo Oyamada and Shintaro Sakamoto have also mentioned Bickford in the past, so I'd definitely like you to witness the miracle of God's advent. I persuaded him to participate directly. Also, KOM_I is a talented “alternative icon” that connects the modern underground with the mainstream, but this time, instead of Wednesday Campanella, a special unit centered on modular synths will appear. I dismantle Bickford's work as a VJ and release a worldview reminiscent of SUICIDE (an American new wave/industrial band active since the 1970s). SUICIDE on Wednesday (laughs). Both Alan Vega (Vocalist of SUICIDE) and Marie Antoinette are incontinent.

"Channeling with Mr. Bickford" cast

"Channeling with Mr. Bickford" cast

-Bickford himself is credited as a performer, does he play anything too?

Ukawa: Usually, animator events are talks or workshops, but he seems to have various mysterious specialties.

Doi: He said he could "read poetry", "dance", "swing a morning star (a type of striking weapon)", and even "climb trees" (laughs).

Ukawa: I want people to “climb trees” in vain (laughs). All of the participating artists were given a video of Bickford as a theme, and there is a possibility that Bickford himself will appear along with the performance "channeled" with them. However, I don't know what kind of ceremony will be held there until the actual performance (laughs).