The Grand Bizarre

Jodie Mack's 2018 film is an animation built from textile patterns. Fabrics are placed into landscapes and moved frame by frame until the patterns become the real subject of the image. The argument concerns production and circulation. The same motif appears across different cultures; rather than explain in words how it is carried, copied and sold, the narrative shows it through repeated images. It was shot on sixteen millimetre and made entirely by hand; airports, hotels and motorways pass one after another. There is no dialogue and the sound design sets the rhythm. It runs about an hour. Who it's for: those who like experimental animation and formal experiment. Who it's not for: viewers expecting narrative or information; the film explains nothing.