According to this LIFE magazine article, art collector Henry Clews had a taste for the bizzare, as seen in the statue above. His French Mediterranean home is now a museum, and you can visit, or even apply for an arts residency there!
I recently found out about an animator named Harry Partridge who does bizarre shorts that are perfect Weird Universe material. These two are my favorites, but be sure to go to the Happy Harry Toons YouTube page for more absurdity.
These images both derive from Life magazine for November 11, 1949.
It must indicate something about capitalism circa 1949 that both ad campaigns chose this gigantic, brutal, triumphalist imagery. (Perhaps the two campaigns were created by the same agency even?) The postwar reign of corporate overlords has arrived. "Beware, puny humans! Our glorious products bestride the landscape and will crush you, unless you buy and consume mass quantities!"
Could there be a less-enticing public face for a company?
16mm Theater is my new series here on Weird Universe, in which I will share some of the stranger films in my 16mm collection. Today's feature: The Rainbow Bear, 1970
The only way I can describe this film is "acid trip," and if you watch it I'm sure you will agree. Weirder still is the fact that this was apparently made for children, as it was produced by American Educational Films. And the weirdest fact about this short is that it was directed by Bill Meléndez, perhaps best known for A Charlie Brown Christmas.
Sorry about the poor quality, my projector doesn't have a telecine mode and I don't have a proper video camera.
Category: Animals, Death, Destruction, Dreams and Nightmares, Surrealism, Fantasy, Stop-motion Animation