Fischinger to Swim in DVD Waters

Monday, April 10, 2006
By: Ramin Zahed

The prayers of abstract expressionist animator Oskar Fischinger’s fans have finally been answered. L.A.-based Center for Visual Music will release a new DVD featuring ten of Fischinger’s beautiful abstract animated works on May 15.

The upcoming Oskar Fischinger Ten Films DVD high-def digital transfers with remastered audio versions of Spirals, Study No. 6, Study No. 7, Kreise, Allegretto, Radio Dynamics, Motion Painting No. 1, Wax Experiments, Spiritual Constructions and Walking from Munich to Berlin. Early experiments, animation drawings, tests, home movies of Oskar, Elfriede and Hans Fischinger in the Berlin studio (circa 1931), biographical photos, paintings, film notes and a full biography of the artist are included in this wonderful package. The DVD is priced at $30 for private home use.

Fischinger (1900-1967) is often regarded as one of the key masters of abstract animation and called the Kandinsky of cinema. The German artist was praised internationally for animating geometric patterns and shapes, choreographed exquisitely to classical music and jazz, decades before Disney’s Fantasia. Seen as one of the premier artists of the 20th Century, Fischinger is also positioned as an important link between the artistic movement of pre-war Europe and post-war California and many view him as a grandfather of the digital arts.

This is the first in a series of DVDs from the Center for Visual Music, a non-profit film archive dedicated to visual music, experimental animation and avant-garde media. For more info, visit www.centerforvisualmusic.org/DVD.htm.

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