SYNOPSIS:
Pink Pottery is an exploration of our relationship with material culture made in the Paleolithic through Neolithic time periods. The art objects include cave paintings, fertility figures, and pottery contrasted against destructive objects including arrows to modern missiles.
Pink Pottery was featured in the October 2023 episode of STRATA on The Archaeology Channel's website and broadcast TV in parts of the USA and Europe
After screening Q&A - photo credit Federico Vespignani
After screening Q&A - Christine Banna (left), Shanti Thakur (middle), Vashti Anderson (right) - photo credit Federico Vespignani
Pink Pottery screening as part of the exhibit: Personal Structures at European Cultural Council (ECC), Piazzo Michiel, Venice (Italy) - September 2024
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT:
Pink Pottery primarily juxtaposes vibrant imagery of ancient art and object-making with modern technological devices predominantly drawn on 35mm film. The visuals in this film include imagery of ancient material culture such as cave paintings, ancient pottery, and female fertility figures, rapidly shown alongside modern communication devices and weapons such as missiles. Each individual category of material culture is rendered in modern, saturated colors such as neon pink and rich cobalt blue, and is activated through replacement animation. With this method the individual objects undulate, allowing the quintessential idea of the objects’ platonic forms to become juxtaposed with the distinct shapes of the individual pieces in the sequence.
Utilizing these methods and conventions, the film collapses the expanse of time separating modern humans from their ancestors creating a space with no distinction between past and present. In this space, there is a freedom to be more objective in one’s experience of the imagery – erasing the tendency to think of ancient people as other compared to the present day. The use of 35mm film gives the viewer tangible access to the material on which Pink Pottery was made. The materiality of the film in itself references the making of the material culture shown upon it. In this way, the blurring of the lines between antiquity and modernity is also emphasized.
Pink Pottery originated from a deep love and appreciation of art history along with the constant disillusion of the trajectory of humanity based on the more destructive tendencies. The past tends to be glorified and its people as other than those that exist today – with different tendencies and instincts. However, it cannot be denied that violence and destruction have always played a part in human persistence. In cave paintings, there are clear depictions of animals riddled with arrows alongside unharmed animals running majestically. Painted on ancient pottery are beautiful geometric designs, gods and goddesses, and scenes of everyday life alongside imagery of warfare and conflict. Perhaps the modern flirting with self-inflicted destruction is not so new – there are just more efficient ways of following through.
Pink Pottery primarily juxtaposes vibrant imagery of ancient art and object-making with modern technological devices predominantly drawn on 35mm film. The visuals in this film include imagery of ancient material culture such as cave paintings, ancient pottery, and female fertility figures, rapidly shown alongside modern communication devices and weapons such as missiles. Each individual category of material culture is rendered in modern, saturated colors such as neon pink and rich cobalt blue, and is activated through replacement animation. With this method the individual objects undulate, allowing the quintessential idea of the objects’ platonic forms to become juxtaposed with the distinct shapes of the individual pieces in the sequence.
Utilizing these methods and conventions, the film collapses the expanse of time separating modern humans from their ancestors creating a space with no distinction between past and present. In this space, there is a freedom to be more objective in one’s experience of the imagery – erasing the tendency to think of ancient people as other compared to the present day. The use of 35mm film gives the viewer tangible access to the material on which Pink Pottery was made. The materiality of the film in itself references the making of the material culture shown upon it. In this way, the blurring of the lines between antiquity and modernity is also emphasized.
Pink Pottery originated from a deep love and appreciation of art history along with the constant disillusion of the trajectory of humanity based on the more destructive tendencies. The past tends to be glorified and its people as other than those that exist today – with different tendencies and instincts. However, it cannot be denied that violence and destruction have always played a part in human persistence. In cave paintings, there are clear depictions of animals riddled with arrows alongside unharmed animals running majestically. Painted on ancient pottery are beautiful geometric designs, gods and goddesses, and scenes of everyday life alongside imagery of warfare and conflict. Perhaps the modern flirting with self-inflicted destruction is not so new – there are just more efficient ways of following through.
missile sequence on 35mm film
early thumbnails for "Pink Pottery"
"Pink Pottery" was the cover of the 2022 Faculty Exhibition at RIT
Festival and Exhibit Screenings:
2024 Pink Pottery, Personal Structures, European Cultural Council (ECC), Piazzo Michiel, Venice (Italy)
2023 Pink Pottery, Official Selection, Buffalo International Film Festival (BIFF), Buffalo, NY (USA)
2023 Pink Pottery, Official Selection, ASIFA East Animation Film Festival, New York City, NY (USA)
2023 Pink Pottery, Official Selection, The Archaeology Channel (TAC) International Film Festival, Eugene, OR (USA)
2023 Pink Pottery, Official Selection, Experimental Film Odyssey, Online Film Festival (USA)
2022 Pink Pottery, Official Selection, Out of Bounds Film Festival (OoBFF), Molfetta, Bari (Italy)
2022 Pink Pottery, Official Selection, GUTTERCAST Online Film Festival, (USA)
2022 Pink Pottery, Official Selection, ZTV: Video Festival A GO-GO, Nashville, TN (USA)
Awards & Nominations:
2023 Pink Pottery, Semi-finalist, Drawtastic Golden Pencil Awards
2023 Pink Pottery, Honorable Mention, Blackbird Film Festival, Cortland, NY (USA)
2022 Pink Pottery, nominee Roller Skates on Fire Award, ZTV: Video Festival A GO-GO, Nashville, TN (USA)
CREDITS:
Directed and Animated by Christine A Banna
Music by James Sanderson
Additional music by Zach Wheeler
Instrumental performances by James Sanderson & Zach Wheeler
Animation intern Ashley Giles
Copyright 2022 Christine A Banna
Directed and Animated by Christine A Banna
Music by James Sanderson
Additional music by Zach Wheeler
Instrumental performances by James Sanderson & Zach Wheeler
Animation intern Ashley Giles
Copyright 2022 Christine A Banna