“Sausage City” by Adam Beckett

The first time I saw an Adam Beckett film, I believe it was “Flesh Flows”, my skin went all  goosebumpy and my head felt like it had detached from my body.  His work is truly psychoactive media. Consisting of hand drawn animated “infinite” loops shot on film and manipulated on the optical printer (this is pre-digital), his films take the viewer on a hypnotic journey into a world of slippery forms and shifting time. Adam Beckett was an experimental animation student at the California Institute of Arts in the early 1970’s. His untimely death at the age of 29 prematurely interrupted a prolific career. Legend has it that Beckett lived in the CalArts Optical Printer room for weeks on end and some say that his ghost still resides there. I hope you enjoy this rare experience.

https://vimeo.com/113578827?utm_source=email&utm_medium=clip-transcode_complete-finished-20120100&utm_campaign=7701&email_id=Y2xpcF90cmFuc2NvZGVkfDczZjZlMDU0ZWMzNDE3MzIwNDc0OGRiZjM2ZmM0MDQzODc0fDM1MDk4NzIyfDE0MTc2Nzc5MDV8NzcwMQ%3D%3D

If you want to see more of Adam Beckett’s work, there is a DVD of beautifully restored films available from the Iota Center. 

http://iotacenter.org/store/videos/beckett_dvd

Tags: 1970's psychedelia, Adam Beckett, California Institute of the Arts