Vignettes of War and Business (2005)

"Vignettes of War and Business are a series of interrelated short 3D animations woven together that obliquely refer to the US “permanent war economy” that has been transposed into the context of modern corporate New Zealand (which, as in most countries, is often at the mercy of the “virtual parliament” of international investors and corporations).

These vignettes reflect on paranoia, beauty and terror that is inherent in the modern world both here and in the USA.

Fleece Blackout: a short video animation of a 3D model sheep that stands (mostly) stationary and statue-like in a mountainous landscape while cruise missiles fly by and the woollen fleece on the sheep slowly turns into a photographic floral pattern.

Masquerade: a whimsical vignette of manufactured fear -“starring” a clown based on a 19th century cast iron bank, and a news commentator in a gas mask (waiting for the WMD’s during the invasion of Iraq.)

4 Heads: 4 heads with balaclava-like mapping of textiles wiggling their ears and noses. (with clips morphed from the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956))

Red Cap: Obliquely referring to the Citizen Kane (1941) inspired lost innocence.

The Return of the Body Snatchers: a 3d animation (obliquely influenced by the original Siegel movie The Invasion of the Body Snatchers) that takes into consideration the current global social-political climate of fear.

Girl in the Canoe, the sheep from Fleece Blackout float down a river. It is followed by an inner tube and rubber duckie. A “girl on a canoe” is reflected on the water. An old trite postcard of a girl in the canoe in Wanganui, New Zealand fades (and blurs) out at the end of the clip".