Clifton Childree
Artist’s Statement
An analog artist in the digital era, I adore the herky-jerky motion of black and white silent film, its hokey lighting and the hiss and crackle of phonograph records. All these rich textures are anathema in the present moment that worships hyper-smooth seamless cinematography and state of the art CGI illusions. My affection for simple hydraulics and basic mechanics comes from a deep love affair for the carnival midway, turn-of-the-century arcade, and the broad laughs of vaudeville entertainment. It’s the hand-cranked and slapstick that gets me going.
To say I am a lo-tech devotee is an over-simplification, home-made is perhaps a better term. I started making my first super 8 films at nine years old and earlier than that made flipbooks while daydreaming in school. My kindred spirits are the filmmakers Jan Svankmajer, Starewicz, the Brothers Quay, and Guy Maddin. Like them, my films are an arena for uninhibited eccentricity. They seesaw between the sublime and the profane while shamelessly employing melodrama, blunt humor, and sight gags. My films are doused liberally with scatalogical slapstick such as bare asses, flying poop and over-sized dicks and their quaint toilet humor unleashes repressed urges and drives.
Artist’s Links
artist’s website: www.cliftonchildree.com
gallery links: http://www.dorschgallery.com/