Wednesday, June 08, 2016

Claymation Golem

GOLEM WATCH: Multimedia ‘Golem’ makes monster out of technology (Dan Poorman, The Post and Courier).
As a professional animator, it is Paul Barritt’s job to create golems — or, as Jewish folklore would have it, magical anthropomorphic clay beings.

When Barritt, studying philosophy and illustration at Middlesex University in London in 2006, visited a local bookstore, he found a copy of Gustav Meyrink’s 1914 novel, “The Golem,” with a cover that featured a striking still from Paul Wagener’s 1920 expressionist film of the same title. He bought the book and was “absolutely charmed,” he said. His years of claymation suddenly had meaning.

[...]
Yeah, I can see how that could work.
Barritt and his creative partner, Suzanne Andrade, with whom he manages the theater company 1927, decided to make something anyway.

The company’s satirical take on the golem legend, simply titled “Golem,” combines live performance with claymation. The play is written and directed by Andrade, with Barritt handling film, animation and design.

“Golem” made its world premiere in 2014 at the Salzburg Festival in Austria and subsequently appeared at the Young Vic Theatre in London as well as in Taiwan and France. It makes its U.S. premiere at Spoleto Festival USA on Wednesday.

[...]
I don't know how I missed this story in 2014, but here it is now. PaleoJudaica has many, many past posts on the Golem legend and its various modern renditions. Start here and just follow those links.