In his introduction to the section titled "Machinalia" in his book As I See, Boris Artzybasheff says, "I am thrilled by machinery’s force, precision and willingness to work at any task, no matter how arduous or monotonous it may be. I would rather watch a thousand ton dredge dig a canal than see it done by a thousand spent slaves lashed into submission. I like machines."
Making of Steel: Charging the Open Hearth
Tapping a Heat of Steel
Filling Ingot Molds
The Soaking Pit
The Blooming Pit
The Rod Mill
Hydraulic Press
Stranding of Wire Rope
Weaving of Fence Fabric
Wire Drawing Machines
Spring Forming Presses
Wire Cloth Looms
Navy’s Mark III Calculator
Executive of the Future
Recently, I was asked by a visitor to the Archive what relevance half century old cartoons and magazine illustrations have to the current animation scene. Well, this question is best answered with an example… Look at these amazing designs by Boris Artzybasheff originally published in the 1950s, and look at this clip from Fleischer’s Lost & Foundry.. It doesn’t take a great deal of imagination to be able to picture what a sequence in a current CGI film would look like if it had designs like Artzybasheff’s and animation like the Fleischers’.
Lost and Foundry (Fleischer/1937) at YouTube
Stephen Worth
Director
Animation Resources
This posting is part of a series of articles comprising an online exhibit spotlighting Illustration.
