Text on André Martin’s writings

The text of comments on the writings of André Martin took proportions which I was not expecting. I devoted all my time since the last entry in this blog to this work. I have almost twenty pages written and it seems that the work opens up and there are already several tracks that I will follow. It is necessary that I consult his texts written after 1967 on new imaging technologies. It is also necessary that I make a historiographical research on what has been written about the historical evaluation of this crucial period in the history of animation (1955-1968), at least see how Bendazzi deals with this period. I will also watch the two movies about television that André Martin made at the NFB in 1966 and in this vein, perhaps read McLuhan’s Understanding Media again after so many years.

Another dimension to the work has added by surprise. Last week I visited my old friend René Jodoin. I was overturned when I learned he hwas now eighty-eight years old. He is always so strong intellectually and so involved in the work of creative thinking. He goes on tirelessly with the small amount of energy and time still available to him. He is particularly concerned about putting his thoughts about art and life in order. I felt that I could help him do that by undertaking a series of interviews with him, as far as his thoughts in recent years are really worth the trouble. Then, it appeared to me that Rene is one of the last survivors of the generation that made this revolution in animation. He worked with Norman McLaren, was preoccupied by the continuation of the McLaren conception of animation and founded the French animation Studio of the NFB along those lines and was a pioneer of computer animation in Canada. He somehow followed a trail parallel to that of Andrée Martin. This interview project will obviously be a part of my ongoing work about the writings of Martin and the historical evaluation of the state of animation at the beginning of my career. So maybe in this, there is more than just a text but a complete book.

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