Snapshots of the future

Another rich seam of material issues forth this week from the reliably creative terrain of Onedotzero, in the form of a follow-up edition to its successful Motion Blur book and two-hour DVD package. Everything you could want to know about the international practitioners leading this field is packaged stylishly in this tactile felt-bound and embroidered volume, an attempt perhaps to shake off the genre’s scratchy, tech-focused image. Onedotzero doesn’t need to try that hard, however. As always, the eclectic roots of this culture shines through – contributors are spawned from club nights, as well as those innovating in the more commercial sphere of music video and commercials. There are plenty of personal shorts too, emerging from lesser-known desktops and editing suites. High-definition stills drip sultry aesthetics across every page, making this a visual cornucopia of a book to flick through, and interviews with every artist provide insightful commentary to the works. Take Pleix’s short film Birds, in which dogs spring through the air amid laser lines, accompanied by electro beats supplied by Vitalic. ‘We researched all the breeds, trying to find ones that had a strong personality,’ deadpans the French collective. From the macabre art direction of Floria Sigismondi’s music videos for Marilyn Manson and Christina Aguilera, to the abstract painterly animation of Takagi Masakatsu’s video installations, there are myriad techniques and concepts to explore, fusing art direction, animation and design. To borrow author Shane Walter’s term, this ‘nanotainment’ proves that the future really is short, sleek, snappy and, above all, digital.

Motion Blur 2/ Multidimensional Moving Imagemakers by Shane Walter, Onedotzero, is published by Laurence King this week, priced £40