Films by Harry Smith = Harry Smith: early abstractions

Harry Smith, filmmaker, painter, anthropologist, linguist, and more, was a unique artist who believed in the interconnectedness of human existence. An anthropology student who became involved in the early incarnation of the counter-culture movement, Smith is credited with developing ingenious methods of animation, collage techniques, and hand-painting directly onto film. No 1: Hand drawn animation of shapes - the history of the geologic period depicted in three minutes. No 2: Geometric shapes, circles, squares, and dirty dots morph to the sounds of the Beatles’ rocking tune “I wanna hold your hand”. No 3: Batiked animation made up of a complex interlocking of squares and oblongs, criss-crossings, leaping on and off the screen. No 4: Black and white abstractions of dots and grillwork, this short work evokes an urban night on the town. No 5: “III Circular tensions” This colour abstraction pays homage to fellow animator Oskar Fischinger. No 6: Optically printed Pythagoreanism in four movements supported on squares, circles, grillwork, and triangles. No 10: An exposition of Buddhism and the Kaballa in the form of a collage.