Filmmaker Jodie Mack to show ‘visual delights’ at Wexner Center

Rachel Feeley
Mon, 20 Oct 2014 03:44:16 +0000
Campus, cinema scope, dark side of the moon, dusty stacks of mom, jodie mack, ohio state, pink floyd, wexner center

Jodie Mack is set for screenings of her work and to talk at the Wexner Center for the Arts on Oct. 22. Credit: Mark Batke / Photo editor

For one artist, the film is not complete until it is shown — and performed — live.

The Wexner Center for the Arts is set to host Jodie Mack on Wednesday as part of its Visiting Filmmakers series. According to the center’s website, Mack has been gaining recognition and respect the past few years for her homemade 16mm films and is set to show her program titled “Let Your Light Shine.”

Mack, 31, was born in London and teaches animation at Dartmouth College. She earned her Master of Fine Arts in film, video and new media at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

“I think people see her as one of the most young and exciting filmmakers,” said Chris Stults, associate curator of film/video at the Wexner Center. “She makes the films and the screenings much more lively than they often may be.”

Attempts to contact Mack for an interview were unsuccessful.

Wednesday’s five-part program experiments with the idea of using everyday items, like grocery store bags, to create beautiful film. Mack is scheduled to be there for the screening and to talk to Wexner guests, as well as perform during one of the segments.

The middle segment, the 41-minute short titled “Dusty Stacks of Mom,” is a tribute to Mack’s mother, Sharon Marney. The segment consists of stop-motion animations and will feature Mack herself singing live over top of the film.

“They’re 16mm film so it’s a format that’s so hard to see these days, so it will be a really special chance to see this beautiful grainy film,” Stults said. “The films are just a visual delight to see.”

She will sing karaoke-style over music playing with her film. She has written her own lyrics to go with the music from Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon.”

“That sure would make it interesting,” said Deanna Smith, a fourth-year in logistics at Ohio State. “I like quirky or different, out of the ordinary, things like that.”

The short chronicles the journey through the running and shutting down of the poster shop her mother owned and operated. Such change is common in a technology-based world, but Mack hopes to show a lighter side to the trouble by featuring real-life posters on the screen along with her added work.

“Those of us who have lived in a college dorm in the past 20 years should be able to relate instantly to this film, because we are seeing our old movie and music posters jump off the walls and onto the screen,” critic Jake Smith wrote in the Madison Film Forum.

When the shop was closing, Mack took advantage of posters that did not sell out and began working with them to create her stop-motion pictures and animations. Alongside these animations in the film, the audience will also see images of Marney throughout the film.

“With a self-deprecating wit and a charm that is matched only by the keen precision of her art, Mack could be just what the avant-garde needs,” wrote Cinema Scope magazine.

Stults added that there will be a 3-D film showing in the series as well that, while only three minutes long, will “make your eyes pop out.”

Tickets are $6 for members or students and $8 for the general public. The event is set to begin at 7 p.m. in the Film/Video Theater.