“He Almost Clutched his Hand”

1. The Medium is the Message2. Possible Questions to ask of the

animation

By Gerrit van Dijk葛瑞 .凡 .戴克 , Holland, 1982

Stages of his life

1. Early childhood;2. Outside world; 3. School; 4. Buy a pair of shoes;5. College life; 6. Career 7. The end

The things he sees & experiences

Indoor: The light, the mother’s nipple and the father’s button; pet dogs of plastic;

Outside World:cherries, dogs, wheelbarrow, another “wheelbarrow” with four wheels . . ..

Social roles (seen with eyeglasses) :

School master, doctors, pharmacist, ladies and gents, dollars and cents.

Schools photos

College life

His father

grows silent.

One thing he remembers

Career: Cannot help himself doing:

Reminiscence

The end

Possible Questions to ask of the animation

“Author”: How do we deal with the identity of “he”? Is “he” the animator? The speaker? Why are there so many ways of representing the “self”? Do you find any intertextual references? Are there conflicting messages? What are missing from his life story?

Intertextual references “light” pop arist (or Beetles?) Rene Margrite, Salome newspaper, books, television, radio, alphabet board Dutch landscape (or some one’s painting?) Shoes –van Gogh’s and Star Dust Shoes Elm wood Oscar Wilde dressed as

Salome

The Conflicting or Repressed

Structure: from wonder to knowledge to wealth and then “return” loves “the old things and the old people that have passed like ships in the night.” the central moment of love (happy talk about new shoes in summer vs. distance and an autumnal leaf,) vs. the passing of time (like “a fearful storm”) the mother? Kuwait? Salome?

Gerrit van DijkONE-ON-ONE (animation online ) http://www.niaf.nl/e_ind_main.htm Other work:

I MOVE, SO I AM 8' 20" Written and directed by Gerrit van Dijk - 1997 Director Gerrit van Dijk states: "I move, so I am",

a free interpretation of Descartes quotation "I think, so I am", is my credo to express myself on celluloid. "I am not shooting pictures, I animate....".