1925 aka Hell is one of two animation loops directed by Max Hattler, inspired by the work of French outsider artist Augustin Lesage (1876-1954). 1925 is based on Lesage's painting A Symbolic Composition of the Spiritual World from 1925, below. The second loop, 1923 aka Heaven, is based on Lesage's painting of the same name from 1923. The films were created during 5 days in February 2010 with students at The Animation Workshop in Viborg, Denmark.
- Best Experimental Film, Animation Block Party, Brooklyn, New York, USA, 2012
- Audience Prize, Animate OPEN: Digitalis, Animate Projects, 2011
- Best Short Short, St. Louis International Film Festival, St. Louis, USA, 2010
- Vimeo Staff Pick, 2010
SCREENINGS 2018-2020
- International Animation Exhibition (IAE) 国际动画艺术展 Online Retrospective (2017-2019), China, 1 Jun - 15 Jul 2020
- 3rd International Animation Exhibition (IAE)国际动画艺术展, Beijing, China, 15-21 Dec 2019 (more info)
- Taichung International Animation Festival, Taichung, Taiwan, 11-20 Oct 2019 (Director in Focus 2)
- About Receptive Rhythms, Goethe-Gallery, Goethe-Institut Hong Kong, 19 Sep 2019 (artist talk, part of Max's solo exhibition Receptive Rhythms)
- Anifilm, Trebon, Czech Republic, 7-12 May 2019 (Max Hattler Retrospective)
- 26th Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film, Metropol 3, Stuttgart, Germany, 17:00 Fri 3 May 2019 (In Persona: Max Hattler screening)
- London International Animation Festival, London, UK, 4 Dec 2018, 6:30pm (Aftermath screening curated by Lizzy Hobbs and Abigail Addison)
- CREATE! MakerSpace, CityU Library, City University of Hong Kong, 3 Dec 2018 (Guest Lecture 5.0: Max Hattler: Audio-Visual Abstraction: Animation as Fine Art Practice)
- Aftermath: animations exploring war, conflict and loss, Tate St Ives, St Ives, UK, 27 Oct 2018 (curated by Lizzy Hobbs and Abigail Addison)
- Aftermath: animations exploring war, conflict and loss, New Walk Museum, Leicester, UK, 6 Oct 2018 (curated by Lizzy Hobbs and Abigail Addison)
- SAS 2018: Black Box Exhibition 'Animation Temporalities', Concordia University, Montreal, Canada, 18-21 Jun 2018 (artists: Dirk de Bruyn, Max Hattler, Mike Hoolboom, Faiyaz Jafri)
- Patterns of Continual Becoming: Order, Repetition and Metamorphosis in Experimental Animation, Royal College of Art, 8 Mar 2018 (screening curated by Lilly Husbands)
2017
- Universiti Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 27 Nov (Oblique Narrative and Synaesthetic Experience - The Abstract Animations of Max Hattler)
- KLEX, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 25 Nov (Max Hattler Retrospective)
- Western Universities Students Animation Festival Academic Proseminar, Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu, China, 12 Nov (lecture: 'Materiality and Representation in Animation: Approaches to Abstraction')
- 56 Moon Animation Festival, Chengdu, China, 11 Nov (Max Hattler solo screening)
- Ars Electronica Festival, Linz, Austria, 7-11 Sep (Deep Space 8K: Max Hattler: Expanded Abstractions)
- London Animation Club, London, 1 Aug (Max Hattler Returns to... talk/screening)
- 29th Society for Animation Studies Conference, University of Padova, Padua, Italy, 4 Jul (presentation: ‘Expanded Abstractions: From Fake Holography to Broken Stereoscopy’)
- Stuttgart Media University, Stuttgart, Germany, 13 Apr (guest lecture)
- Filmfest Dresden International Short Film Festival, Dresden, Germany, 4-9 Apr (Animated: Max Hattler Retrospective)
2016
- The Age of Experience, Angewandte Innovation Lab, Vienna, Austria, 1-20 Dec (curated by Harald Kraemer)
- Institute for Media and Communication Studies, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany, 24 Oct ('Animation Art and Video Activism' lecture)
- Punto y Raya Festival, ZKM Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany, 23 Oct (masterclass)
- School of Arts, Renmin University, Beijing, China, 3 Sep (guest lecture)
- Lasalle College of the Arts, Singapore, 30 Jun (guest lecture)
- SCAD Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 10 May (New Media Art and Animation lecture)
- California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA, USA, 10 Feb (visiting artist lecture)
- California State University, Los Angeles, CA, USA, 9 Feb (lecture)
2015
- Afterimages - Dark Romanticism’s Reverberation in Video Art, Kunstsammlung Jena, Germany, 5 Dec 2015 - 28 Feb 2016 (curated by Robert Seidel)
- Indie-Anifest, Seoul, Korea, 17-21 Sep (Max Hattler screening)
- –scape, Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, 17 Jul - 28 Aug (curated by Snow Yunxue Fu and Mo Chen)
- Melbourne International Animation Festival, Australia, 24 Jun (Max Hattler screening+Q&A)
- Multiplace, Bratislava, Slovakia, 26 May
- Hongik University, Seoul, Korea, 19 May (lecture)
- Open Source Art Forum, WCO Korea, Seoul, Korea, 17 May (lecture)
- Resonate, Belgrade, Serbia, 17 Apr (lecture)
- The Age of Experience, Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre, Hong Kong, 12 Mar - 22 Apr (curated by Harald Kraemer)
- Monstra Animated Film Festival, Lisbon, Portugal, 17 Mar (masterclass)
- Tehran International Animation Festival, Tehran, Iran, 12 Mar (masterclass)
- Aus Sehnsucht wird Weitblick. Die Jubeljahre des Ulmer Münsters, 1877–2015: 2015. Weitblick, Stadthaus, Ulm, Germany, 25 Jan - 31 Dec 2015
- School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong, 12 Jan (lecture)
2014
- Sint Lucas Antwerpen, Antwerp, Belgium, 15 Dec (masterclass)
- IMM - Institut für Musik und Medien, Düsseldorf, Germany, 11 Dec (lecture)
- Cologne Game Lab, University of Applied Sciences, Cologne, Germany, 10 Dec (lecture)
- Goldsmiths, University of London, London, UK, 9 Dec (lecture)
- University of the West of England, Bristol, UK, 3 Dec (lecture)
- Middlesex University, London, 2 Dec (lecture)
- Echo Park Film Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA, 21 Nov (retrospective)
- University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA, 19 Nov (lecture)
- CalArts, Valencia, California, USA, 17 Nov (lecture)
- London College of Communication, London, UK, 30 Oct (lecture)
- Royal College of Art, London, 22 + 23 Oct (artist talks)
- Medialogy, Aalborg University Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark, 16 Oct (lecture)
- London Animation Club, Green Man, Fitzrovia, London, 7 Oct (artist talk)
- National Film and Television School, Beaconsfield, UK, 29 Sep (lecture)
- Audiovisual Abstractions. Max Hattler's Doctorate in Fine Art Exhibition, Moving Image Research Centre, University of East London, London, UK, 19-24 Jun
- Fest Anca, Zilina, Slovakia, 18-22 Jun (Profile: Max Hattler)
- Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Caracas, Venezuela, 14 May (lecture)
- School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 28 Apr (lecture)
- After Dark: Extended Cinemas, Exploratorium, San Francisco, CA, USA, 6 Mar
- KASKcinema, Ghent, Belgium, 20 Feb (lecture)
- Sint Lucas Antwerpen, Antwerp, Belgium, 19 Feb (lecture)
- Sint-Lucas, Ghent, Belgium, 18 Feb (lecture at Digital Design International Day)
2013
- Middlesex University (Animation Dept), London, 9 Dec (lecture)
- After Dark: Glow, Exploratorium, San Francisco, CA, USA, 5 Dec (2-channel installation)
- Royal College of Art, London, 20 Nov (talk)
- International Festival of Fulldome Arts 'Dimension', Tsiolkovsky State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics, Kaluga, Russia, 16 Nov (artist talk)
- Animatou Festival, Geneva, Switzerland, 11 Oct (masterclass)
- Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts - HSLU, Switzerland, 9 Oct (lecture)
- onedotzero BL-NK launch, BL-NK, London, Wed 25 Sep (2-channel installation)
- Imagina Festival, Espacio Fundacion Telefonica, Lima, Peru, 4-12 Sep (2-channel installation)
- Videoholica, Varna, Bulgaria, 4 Aug (artist talk)
- C the Film, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Edinburgh, UK, 27 Jul - 27 Aug
- Nozstock Festival, Bromyard, Herefordshire, Fri 26 Jul (Max Hattler Retrospective)
- Schaustelle, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, 15+16 Jun (Max Hattler: Selected Works)
- Schaustelle, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, Germany, 15 Jun (artist talk)
- Rom for Kunst, Oslo S (Oslo Central Station), Norway, 10 June - 10 July (public screen curated by Kunsthall Oslo + Oslo Screen Festival)
- Platform4, Aalborg, Denmark, 16 May (workshop)
- Nikolaj Kunsthal, Copenhagen, Denmark, 9 May (artist talk)
- AniFest, Teplice, Czech Republic, 27 Apr (lecture)
- London College of Communication, London, UK, 17 Apr (lecture)
- Frenz: Art in April, Strongroom, London, UK, 17 Apr (screening/talk)
- 6 Million Ways of Getting into the Arts: Animation, University of Salford, MediaCityUK, 16 Mar (talk/panel)
- Plymouth College of Art, Plymouth, UK, 8 Mar (lecture)
- University for the Creative Arts, Farnham, UK, 8 Feb (lecture)
- Video Art Festival Miden, Chios, Greece, 2-3 Feb
- Royal College of Art, London, 31 Jan (talk)
2012
- HEAD - Geneva University of Art and Design, Switzerland, 22 Nov (artist talk)
- Animate Projects: Digitalis, Egg Space, University of Salford, MediaCityUK, 8-24 Nov
- Multivision Festival, Pro Arte Foundation, St. Petersburg, Russia, 1 Nov (artist talk)
- Viborg Animations Festival, Viborg, Denmark, 28 Oct - 2 Nov
- Festival du Film Européen, Houlgate, France, 24-30 Oct
- Max Hattler Presents..., Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle, UK, 23 Aug
- Welcome to the Treasuredome, ICCI 360 Arena, Weymouth, UK, 11-12 Aug (curated by Kayla Parker and Stuart Moore)
- Open Cinema, St. Petersburg, Russia, 27 Jul - 3 Aug
- Animation Block Party, Brooklyn, New York, USA, 27-29 Jul
- One Country One Film - Apchat International Film Festival, France, 27-29 Jul
- Lago Film Fest, Revine Lago, Italy, 20-28 Jul (Max Hattler Retrospective)
- Video Art Festival Miden, Kalamata, Greece, 5-7 Jul
- Heaven+Hell, Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, Chicago, IL, USA, 14 Jun (curated by Dan Rybicky)
- Golden Kuker Animation Festival, Sofia, Bulgaria, 12 Jun (Max Hattler Panorama)
- ISFF Detmold, Germany, 8 Jun (Zwischenbilanz: Max Hattler Retrospective)
- Expopromenade Frontiere(s), Pau, France, 7-10 Jun
- Royal College of Art, London, 6 Jun (presentation/workshop)
- Riga International Short Film Festival 2ANNAS, Riga, Latvia, 28 May - 3 June
- AnimaBasauri AnimaBasque, Bilbao, Spain, 25-31 May
- Animasivo, Mexico City, Mexico, 14-20 May (Animate Projects 'Digitalis' screening)
- Backup Festival, Weimar, Germany, 12 May ("Collisions, Kaleidobooths, Hattlerizers" talk)
- FMX, Stuttgart, Germany, 11 May (lecture)
- Skepto at Istituto Europeo di Design, Madrid, Spain, 11 Apr
- Les Etranges Nuits du Cinema, La Chaux-de-Fonds, France, 5 Apr
- Skepto International Film Festival, Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy, 28-31 Mar
- Max Hattler: Audiovisual Abstractions, Vilnius Art Academy, Vilnius, Lithuania, 27 Mar
- Go Short, Nijmegen, Holland, Sun 18 Mar, 16:00 (Max Hattler Special Screening)
- Oslo Screen Festival, Oslo, Norway, 9-11 Mar
- Byron Bay Film Festival, Australia, 2-11 Mar
- Animac, Lleida, Catalonia, Spain, 1-4 Mar (Max Hattler Special Screening)
- Flash Nights, Kings ARI, Melbourne, Australia, Mon 5 Mar (Stomper screening)
- Royal College of Art, London, UK, 16 Feb (presentation/workshop)
2011
- Best Of Int'l Short Film Festival Detmold, Detmold, Germany, 17 Dec
- Animate Digitalis Commisions Launch, BFI Southbank, London, 14 Dec
- University of the Arts Bremen, Germany, 2 Dec (lecture)
- Int'l Video-Art Festival Camaguey, Cuba, 25-29 Nov (danubeVIDEOARTfestival screening)
- Istanbul International Animation Festival, Istanbul, Turkey, 22-27 Nov
- Max Hattler Special Screening, Off and Free Film Festival, Seoul, Korea, 17-23 Nov
- Let The Rhythm Hit 'Em, Kunstraum Kreuzberg / Bethanien, Berlin, 5 Nov 2011 - 15 Jan 2012. Opening: Fri 4 Nov, 19:00
- Multivision, St. Petersburg, Russia, 3-15 Nov (Heaven & Hell installation at AL Gallery)
- Pictoplasma Festival, New York City, New York, USA, 4-5 Nov
- Blitzfilm Festival, China tour, 3 Nov - 6 Dec
- GIRAF - Giant Incandescent Resonating Animation Festival, Calgary, Canada, 2-5 Nov
- Leaders in Software and Art (LISA) at Big Screen Plaza, New York City, NY, USA, Nov (curated by Isabel and Scott Draves)
- International Short Film Festival of Cyprus, Limassol, Cyprus, 15-22 Oct
- HEX Pixel Gallery, Kansas City, Missouri, USA, 7 Oct (Heaven & Hell 2-channel installation)
- Whistling in the Dark (curated by Stomper), Shoreditch Town Hall, London, 6-8 Oct
- East Pop West, London, 30 Sep - 2 Oct (group exhibition; Max Hattler solo screen)
- Coastal Currents Visual Arts Festival: Underground Worlds, Hastings, UK, Wed 28 Sep
- The Outsiders, Newcastle, UK, 9-10 Sep (Solo Screening)
- Étrange Festival, Paris, France, 2-11 Sep
- Ars Electronica Festival, Linz, Austria, 31 Aug - 6 Sep
- San Gio Video Festival, Verona, Italy, 23-27 July
- FILE - Electronic Language International Festival, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 19 Jul - 21 Aug
- Animate OPEN: Digitalis, Animate Projects, online exhibition, 13 July onwards
- DOTMOV, Japan + worldwide, since Nov 2010 + thru 2011 (screenings in 2011: Singapore, Shizuoka, Berlin, New York, Rio de Janeiro, Kuala Lumpur; for more details see schedule)
- The Lost Picture Show at Glastonbury Festival, Somerset, UK, 24 Jun
- International Short Film Festival Detmold, Detmold, Germany, 9-13 Jun
- Whirlygig Cinema at Wychwood Festival, Cheltenham, UK, 4 Jun ('Making Tracks' rescore)
- Vienna Independent Shorts, Vienna, Austria, 26 May - 1 Jun
- Athens Video Art Festival, Athens, Greece, 20-22 May
- Wiener Kunstschule, Vienna, Austria, 12 May
- onedotzero at Donaufestival, Filmgalerie, Krems, Austria, 7 May
- Lightbox Animation Festival, Sligo, Ireland, 6-8 May
- Festival International des Trè̀s Courts, Paris, France, 6-8 May
- Transform: Max Hattler + Noriko Okaku, Raum D, quartier21, Vienna, 5 May
- Plastic Paper, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, 4-7 May (Heaven & Hell 2-channel installation)
- Athens Video Art Festival, Greece, May (danubeVIDEOARTfestival screening)
- Filmfest Dresden, Dresden, Germany, 12-17 Apr
- 13th Mecal International Short Film Festival, Barcelona, Spain, 8-17 Apr
- Pictoplasma Festival, Berlin, Germany, 6-9 Apr
- NOVA Contemporary Culture, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, April (group show)
- Chelsea College of Art & Design, London, 29 Mar
- Middlesex University, London, 28 Mar
- Bart kunst in huis / Go Short, Nijmegen, Holland, 16-20 Mar
- Max Hattler: Audiovisual Abstractions, AA School of Architecture, London, 14 Mar
- University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK, 7 Mar
- danubeVIDEOARTfestival, Grein, Austria, 4-6 Mar
- Reinterpreting the Gothic (curated by Jessica Allee + Wago Kreider), Big Muddy Film Festival, Carbondale, Illinois, USA, 22 Feb
- Animated Exeter, Exeter, UK, 19 Feb
- Floating World Animation Festival: DMTV, Show Cave, Los Angeles, CA, USA, 19 Feb
- University of East London, London, 8 Feb (Max Hattler talk)
- Structuring Strategies: Max Hattler, CalArts, Valencia, California, USA, 25 Jan
- Video Is The Only Constant, Corsica Studios, London, 16 Jan
- London Short Film Festival, London, UK, 15 Jan ('music & video' programme)
- London Short Film Festival, London, UK, 14 Jan ('Making Tracks' live rescore)
- Max Hattler: Relations & Abstrations (curated by Klaus W. Eisenlohr), Directors Lounge, Berlin, 8 Jan
2010
- Videomedeja, Novi Sad, Serbia, 17-19 Dec (Heaven & Hell two-channel installation)
- Brain Wash, Curzon Soho, London, 6 Dec
- Yota Space, St. Petersburg, Russia, 4-19 Dec (Heaven & Hell two-channel installation)
- Animae Caribe, Port of Spain, Trinidad, 25-27 Nov
- Painting With Light, Cafe Gallery Projects, London, 20 Nov
- St. Louis International Film Festival, St. Louis, USA, 11-21 Nov
- Met Film School, Ealing Studios, London, UK, 15 Nov
- onedotzero_adventures in motion festival, London, 10-14 Nov ('onscreen' installations)
- Kinofest, Bucharest, Romania, 3-7 Nov
- DOTMOV, Japan + worldwide, Nov-Dec 2010 + more thru 2011 (screenings in 2010: Sapporo, Fukuoka, Sendai, Nagoya, Kagawa, Tokyo, Kobe, Kyoto, Osaka; Shanghai, Hong Kong; Buenos Aires; Stockholm; Los Angeles; Sao Paulo, Belo Horizonte + Porto Alegre; for more details see above + schedule)
- Linoleum Festival, Moscow, Russia, 28-31 Oct
- Darklight, Dublin, Ireland, 28-31 Oct
- Tindirindis, Lithuania, Oct: Vilnius, Siauliai, Panevezys, Nida, Palanga, Klaipeda, Zarasai
- Busan International Video Festival, Space Bandee Gallery, Busan, Korea, 23 Oct - 5 Nov
- Chimeria, Sedan, France, 23 Oct - 1 Nov
- Film + Design Festival, Dutch Design Week, Eindhoven, Netherlands, 23-31 Oct
- Floating World Animation Festival: DMTV, Holocene, Portland, Oregon, USA, 13 Oct
- Goethe-Institut, Ankara, Turkey, 13 Oct
- Simultan Festival, Timisoara, Romania, 30 Sep - 2 Oct
- Presentation of Abstract Animation, Cultural Centre, Myslowice, Poland, 24 Sep
- Tweak Festival, Limerick City, Ireland, 18 Sep
- MUMIA, Brazil, Betim & Nova Lima, 6-12 Sep; Belo Horizonte, 13-19 Sep
- Circuito Off, Venice, Italy, 1-4 Sep
- Fest Anca, Zilina, Slovakia, 30 Jul - 1 Aug
- 'The Darkroom' Adfest 2010, CCC, Shizuoka, Japan, 3 Jul - 7 Aug (2-channel installation)
- 'Heaven and Hell' Broadway, Nottingham, UK, 1-31 Jul (2-channel installation, solo show)
- 'Directors Lounge' contemporary art ruhr 2010, Essen, Germany, 2-4 Jul
- 'It Is Time' Directors Lounge, Z-Bar, Berlin, 24 Jun
- University of East London, 23-30 Jun (Professional Doctorate in Fine Art Exhibition)
- 'Tripolar' MOCA, Taipei, Taiwan, 15 Jun - 18 Jul (2-channel installation, 3-person show)
- BUG 19, BFI Southbank, London, UK, 20 + 27 May
- onedotzero at Cryptic Nights, CCA, Glasgow, 6 May
- Jornada de Comunicación, Universidad Marista, Mexico City, 30 Apr
- Habitacion del Ruido, Universidad del Claustro de Sor Juana, Mexico City, 28 Apr
- Lumen Eclipse, Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA, USA, 1 Apr - 30 Jun (solo show)
- Animated Worlds: Avant-Garde Animation, Cinephilia, London, 21 Mar
- University of Westminster, London, UK, 8 Mar
- 'Kunst ist Versuchung' Kloster Roggenburg, Germany, 24 Feb - 6 Jun (3-person show)
- The Animation Workshop, Viborg, Denmark, 12 Feb
PUBLICATIONS + TV
- Phase 3, BR-alpha TV, Germany, 2012
- SHIFT Magazine Cover, Nov 2010
- Stash DVD Magazine, Issue 67, April 2010
CREDITS
Director: Max Hattler
Technical Director: Allan Lønskov
Sound: Adrian Dexter
Previz/Layout: Adrian Dexter
Modelling: Adrian Dexter, Allan Lønskov, Casper Wermuth, David Otzen, Jakob Kousholt, Kristoffer Mikkelsen
Animation: Adrian Dexter, Allan Lønskov, Casper Wermuth, David Otzen, Ditte Frandsen
Lighting: David Otzen
Rendering: Adrian Dexter, Allan Lønskov, David Otzen
Produced by Max Hattler & The Animation Workshop
Year: 2010
Versions:
- 2 min. festival screening version
- forever-looping 1923/1925 double-projection installation ‘Heaven & Hell’
- "Trippy Tech Take on Lesage" Dangerous Minds
- "incredibly unnerving … Outstanding" Slow Decade
- "Bloody A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!" Wooden Toy Publishing Co
- "Really trippy stuff" Light Sound Dimension
- "frighteningly hypnotic ... you can feel time wrinkle while the cycle tugs you in." The Animation Show
- "enigmatic" Motionographer
- "mesmerizing" booooooom
- "awesome" The Curious Brain
- "remarkable" Promo News
- "Wow ... mesmerizing in a creepy way." Toolfarm
"Viel Kunstgeschichte verbirgt sich auch in der Arbeit von Max Hattler (HEAVEN AND HELL 2010). An der Oberfläche ein Lichtspiel wie in Las Vegas vielleicht. Auf zwei großen Screens nebeneinander. Das digital in Bewegung versetzte Bildmaterial stammt größtenteils aus dem Œuvre des 1954 verstorbenen Art Brut Künstlers Augustin Lesage. Himmel und Hölle. Man muss nur wissen woher, um die öde Techno-Ornamentik der End 1990er zu überschreiten." Roland Schöny, artmagazine, 2016
"a retro futurist vision of a possible afterlife, unfolding in a series of mechanistic vistas" Toby Tatum, Curator of Underground Worlds, Hastings, 2011
"Reminiscent of both, a late medieval fear of eternal damnation, and Fritz Lang's industrial dystopia Metropolis, Hattler's piece hypnotically draws the viewer in deeper and deeper into its
world. Accompanied by an unsettling, industrial soundtrack, we pass through continuously parting gates, opening to form architectonic moths and beetles, down a Dante‐esque vision of hell." Whistling in the Dark programme notes, 2011
"Max Hattler goes beyond the world with twin pieces, 1923 aka Heaven and 1925 aka Hell, using outsider artist Augustin Lesage's paintings A symbolic Composition of the Spiritual World (1923 and 1925) as their starting point. However, the technically polished, mirror animations seem worlds away from the visionary artist's obsessively detailed paintings. On the small screen 1925 aka Hell seems to be more Dante's circles of Hell-ish, than 1923 aka Heaven is Heavenly, but a big screen might change this." Digitalis: heart medicine for the mind by Emma Geliot, Animate Projects, 2011
onedotzero interviews Max about 1923 + 1925.
"This is just wonderful, like an adaptation from book to film this digital medium does the same for paintings. this work makes me want to find out more about Augustin Lesage." Richard Leshone
"...there is something unnervingly cognitive about these films. I'm not sure whether it's the dynamic of the camera movements that give the films a heavy 1st-person feel or whether it is the intrinsic details, colours and layers that remind me of some magic mushroom-induced visual trip." Colourschool
"LSFF delivered the goods in a selection of shorts that innovatively combined sound and image. The programme was bookended by Max Hattler's Heaven and Hell, two films inspired by the visionary paintings of Augustin Lesage. They are constructed as loops, with patterns of coloured circles moving in a circular movement to repetitive percussive sounds in Heaven, while in Hell, dark grey machine imagery opens like the wings of an eagle to the noise of a sinister drone. Hypnotic and immersive, with complex variations on visual and aural patterns, they perfectly framed the programme." Virginie Sélavy, Electric Sheep, 28.2.2011
"programme highlights include max hattler's 1925 aka hell, an animation inspired by the work of french outsider artist augustin lesage" onedotzero festival 2010
"1925 aka Hell is a much darker proposition [than 1923], darker in fact than the infinitely detailed Arabic style of the original painting, and faintly disturbing sound design by Adrian Dexter. But its just as compelling and hypnotic, and like 1923 can be set to loop indefinitely…" Promo News
"guaranteed to unhinge your worst creative block: 1923 and 1925 from Max Hattler and a hard-driving student crew from the The Animation Workshop in Viborg Denmark." Stash
"... journey into a dystopian mechanized landscape." Paul Prudence, dataisnature, 2011
"While 'Hell' appears cold and mechanical, 'Heaven' reminds me of the solemn atmosphere of a buddhist temple." Bianca Beuttel, bbianca.net
"Als ob man in ein düsteres Gemälde hineingesogen wird und dabei die Pforten zur Hölle passiert." Vienna Independent Shorts
"Die beiden eindrucksvollen Animations-Loops von Max Hattler sind inspiriert von den Arbeiten des französischen Künstlers und Außenseiters Augustin Lesage." Stuttgarter Zeitung Glaserei Blog
"この作品には今年の中頃に一度出会っている。それは静岡で配られていた映像フェスティバルのチラシの中だった。沢山の作品の中に混じり画像が印刷されているだけの小さな紹介記事であったが、その静止した絵柄からはとても新鮮なものを感じとれた。キャプチャには映像作品特有のそれっぽいごまかしがなく、とても一瞬を切り取っただけの絵とは思えない程の複雑なオブジェクトが存在していた。また、それら全てが絶妙なバランスで成り立っている部分にも関心した。しかしそれだけに、この絵は動いたとたんに破綻するタイプの映像なのでは？といったキャプチャからの疑いをも感じさせるものがあった。DOTMOVではその動く姿にはじめて遭遇する。それは予想もつかなかった極めてシンプルな展開で、実に巧妙であった。作り込まれたオブジェクトが見事に作用し、いつの間にか見る側をトランス状態に導く不思議な映像である。「1925 aka Hell」、「1923 aka Heaven」と２作品ともにすばらしかったが、景色が明るく造形むき出しのこちらを選出した。" 稲葉英樹 | Hideki Inaba, DOTMOV 2010