Re-Creative Spotlight: Tess Martin
In this episode of Re-Creative, Mark A. Rayner and I got up early to drink our coffee and talk to an animator/filmmaker an ocean away: Tess Martin, based in Rotterdam, the second largest city in the Netherlands. Mark usually starts the podcast by asking me a question but this morning I beat him to it, asking: “What’s your favourite piece of animation?”
His initial response was a classic of Canadian animation, from the NFB. (I’ll make you listen to the episode to find out exactly what he said!)
The Creative Inspiration: Yuri Norstein’s Tale of Tales
We almost always challenge our guests to choose a piece of art to talk about. One that they love and that informs their own work.
Tess chose to discuss a film that had a huge impact on her and that continues to inspire her: Yuri Norstein’s Tale of Tales (1979), a complex, surreal masterpiece a little different than the Saturday morning cartoons you might remember from your youth. It’s not exactly Bugs Bunny, but no less rewarding if you’re up for it. Some consider it the greatest animated film of all time.
As Tess explained to us, Tale of Tales is less a classical narrative than a tapestry of memories, providing just enough clues to allow viewers to unlock its meaning and hidden depths, though a familiarity with the culture from which it emerged helps. Featuring a little grey wolf from a traditional Russian lullaby, Norstein employs deeply personal and culturally specific imagery—such as a glass of vodka and bread as an offering for the dead—making the film feel intensely real and true, even if one doesn’t fully grasp every reference the first time around.
We talked about how Tale of Tales and similar art invites audiences to be active participants, interpreting clues and symbols to find their own meaning.
When you’re done listening to our conversation (or maybe before!) check out the film for yourself to see what we’re talking about: Tale of Tales, a 1979 Soviet/Russian animated film directed by Yuri Norstein[1][2] and produced by the Soyuzmultfilm studio in Moscow:
Support Our Guest
Originally from the States, Tess Martin relocated to the Netherlands to pursue her craft. Her own work follows in Norstein’s tradition of thoughtful, material-based art. Her projects tend to develop through a mix of personal interest and the practicalities of the Dutch public arts funding system. And they can take a long time: she’s currently working on an SF project that has already taken a number of years, and is likely to take at least another couple. I can’t wait to see it!
Mark, Tessa and I discussed two of her recent films:
How Now House: Using archives, personal memories and the philosophy of time, the film questions whether a space can ever really belong to one person, or time period, at all.
1976 Search for Life: A new father visits the hometown of his mother in 1976, accompanied by his wife and baby. At the same time, the NASA Viking lander is sending the first images back to Earth from the surface of another planet.
You can check out Tess’s work on her website. And I highly recommend that you do!
Re-Creative is a co-production of Donovan Street Press Inc. in association with MonkeyJoy Press.
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