Lebensader

Distinctly animated, colourful, clean-lined, Lebensader descends to a cellular-level in a naturally-inspired wandering that appears as if a totem-pole is dreaming. The eyes are stunning, as if painted directly from a wood carving - it may be from the Pacific North-West, it may be Maori, it feels complex and simple, it is fantastic.

There are creatures aplenty, a leaf spawning questions without dialogue, cycles of nature expressed with tremendous character design. Birds feed their young, predators predate, the tensions become almost tectonic, bloody. It is a cellular panopticon of increasing complexity, all predicated upon thick outline, bold colour. It raises a smile, compels, enthralls.

Angela Steffen's film is amazing, complete and satisfying, brilliant. The sound work by clangoin.com is note-perfect, drawing us through the images as they unfold, unfurl, bringing solidity to the patter of what might be an echidna's feet. The quality of the art cannot be met with words - it has a rightness to it, as of a thing grown and hewn by hands in an ancient tradition, yet here in crisp motion.