A million little pieces of construction paper

May 13, 2011 9:58 AM

Construction paper artist Jen Stark and composer/party starter Dan Deacon have combined their disciplines to make a video for you. They call it Surprise Believer.

Jen Stark previously.

Dan Deacon previously and previously.

Bonus Jen Stark animations: 1 and 2.

posted by Homeskillet Freshy Fresh (14 comments total)

That man made thunderous music on the tip of my clocktower.

And then the police came.
posted by sonascope at 10:13 AM on May 13, 2011

Totally saw this on Kitsune Noir yesterday -- Jen Stark is some kind of genius, I swear... and the inevitable next step was to put her creations into a stop-motion video... SO AWESOME.
posted by polly_dactyl at 10:23 AM on May 13, 2011

Reminds me of Siggi Eggertsson's Supernova.
posted by oulipian at 10:46 AM on May 13, 2011

Stoked to watch this when I go home. Dan is the man.
posted by benzenedream at 10:56 AM on May 13, 2011

Jen Stark is some kind of genius, I swear...

Agreed. Translating it to stop-motion must be an incredible amount of labor!
posted by Homeskillet Freshy Fresh at 11:24 AM on May 13, 2011

...to make a video for you.

And here I am, with nothing for them.

Seriously, that was awesome.
posted by Joey Michaels at 11:53 AM on May 13, 2011

The cops turned out for his show in Marfa a couple of years ago, too. Dan had the crowd form a giant human snake that turned itself inside out and it extended well beyond the performance space and eventually blocked off traffic on Main Street.
posted by battleshipkropotkin at 12:42 PM on May 13, 2011 [1 favorite]

Weird. I hit the play button, then I black out for a minute.

I wake to a chime and quietly, in the distance I hear a soft voice, "programming complete."

Then the video seems to be over.

And my nose is bleeding.
posted by eyeballkid at 1:20 PM on May 13, 2011 [2 favorites]

Am I the only person terribly troubled by the popularity of Dan Deacon?
posted by secondhand pho at 2:18 PM on May 13, 2011 [1 favorite]

I'm not necessarily bothered that the police came. It was sort of a badge of honor.

Nevertheless, I was glad when they left.
posted by sonascope at 3:43 PM on May 13, 2011

secondhand pho, you are not.
I have enjoyed the few shows of his I've been to, he seems like a decent guy when I see him around, don't own any of his music but like what I've heard.
But I have seen a guy at the bars in Baltimore wearing a homemade "fuck Dan Deacon" t-shirt, though to be fair that is the sort of thing his fans/friends/fellow Wham Cityites might do for a laugh.
A friend of mine was quite genuinely pissed about the ubiquitous Dan Deacon/Wham City fawning in Baltimore a few years back. I agreed it was pretty ridiculous for a while there, but this guy really got bent out of shape about it and probably still is.

Oh, and who paid for that floor?!
posted by zoinks at 4:10 PM on May 13, 2011

Agreed. Translating it to stop-motion must be an incredible amount of labor!

That shit is bananas, although after looking at her work I don't think she's the least bit intimidated by the prospect of incredible amounts of labor. The meticulousness and scope of those assemblages(?) are amazing.
posted by Hoopo at 4:31 PM on May 13, 2011

Zoinks, I can't say I'm genuinely pissed or bent out of shape, just really... confused.
posted by secondhand pho at 5:10 PM on May 13, 2011

Well "terribly troubled" seemed a lot stronger than "really confused", but I don't have a dog in this non-fight. Like I say, I have friends who actively dislike his stuff and friends who spend a lot of time and effort digging it.
Anyway, not that it explains anything about anything but look at some of the SHIT that is way more popular than Dan Deacon. A lot of people like pure crap of every description and it's all subjective anyway, right? Witness the Shaggs thread from the other day. I mean, I like the Shaggs and bought their record on purpose knowing full well what was on it and still listen to it, but I sure can't blame anybody who can't appreciate them. Eh.
Oh and I just realized I forgot to say that the point with Dan Deacon is the live show. If you have seen him live and are still confused that's cool, but clearly the mass communal freakout of his shows is a big part of the draw. Okay.
posted by zoinks at 7:09 PM on May 13, 2011