Small Destructions

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Yesterday was Free Museum Day in the city, so of course I went to the Cartoon Art Museum. It's a great little place. Definitely recommended for anyone passing through who also has an interest in such things.

It was difficult getting good shots of pieces... primarily because of the glass reflecting a flash, but also because photography wasn't allowed and they seemed kind of serious about it. Why must things be so difficult for me?

They had a huge section of art from Mary Blair, someone I was not familiar with, or rather, didn't know I was familiar with. She was a Disney artist who was behind a lot of the design of some of the first feature films they did. She was huge in the concept design for Alice in Wonderland.



There was also a big section of artwork and designs for Edward Gorey's Dracula.



I had a chance to see some original cells for animated films and a lot of comic strips. Here's an original Bill Watterson.



Plenty of other amusing strips to check out.







My favorite was a short film showing the progress of a piece by Lark Pien. She's a Bay Area artist and worked on this piece called Small Destructions over the course of many days inside the museum, being filmed the entire time. When she was finally finished, they left the final panel up and put together a time lapse DVD. Here's the first part of it. Just check it out, it's easier to understand that way.



The final panel.



Kind of reminds me of Phil Hansen's work, more in terms of the time lapse than specific style.

She had a lot of interesting work. I really appreciated it because it seemed as though most of what she had put together (books, strips, and random merchandise) had been completely done so independently. That's the spirit!