Laurie Hill

2007

Biography

b. 1970 Norwich

2004-06 MA Animation, Royal College of Art, London
1997-01 BA [hons] Fine Art, Chelsea College of Art and Design, University of the Arts London
1991-92 MA English, Kings College, University of London
1988-91 BA [hons] English, Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, University of London

Previous Exhibitions:
2006 Blink, Gasworks Gallery, London
2004 Mesmer, Temporarycontemporary, London
2002 Sharjah International Biennial, United Arab Emirates
2001 Craft, Cell Project Space, London
2001 Beck's Futures Student Prize for Film & Video, London and tour

Screenings:
2007
25FPS, Croatia
Shanghai International Film Festival
Sydney Film Festival
CFC Worldwide Short Film Festival, Canada
Festroia International Film Festival, Portugal
UK Film Centre at Cannes Film Festival
LOOP Festival, Spain,
AniFest, Czech Republic
Cinema at Home, The Netherlands
European Media Art Festival, Germany
19th FilmFest Dresden, Germany
Sonar International Film Festival, Italy
2006
Kara Film International Film Festival, Pakistan
UNCUT, ICA, London
VAD International Exhibition of Video and Digital Art, Spain
Sitges International Film Festival of Catalonia, Spain
14th Raindance Film Festival, London
London International Animation Festival
Darklight Festival, Ireland
East End Film Festival, London
13th Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film, Germany
Images Festival, Canada
Animex Awards, Middlesbrough
Halloween Short Film Festival, London
Intermix 06, Pavilion, Leeds
PureScreen #14, Castlefield Gallery, Manchester

Selectors' Comments:
It's difficult not to be seduced by the delight of a childhood script produced to this degree of sophistication. But that's not to say that it's sentimental - it retains the awkwardness of the artist's childhood imagination, combined with perhaps a feeling of the impossibility of regaining that spirit and energy as a 'grownup'. It's quite moving to watch.

Who would have thunk that the double indulgence of adolescent diary entries and by-the-book illustrational animation would yield a film as consumingly gripping as Laurie Hill's My First Taste of Death. The calm, retrospective narration and understatedly scarifying drawing, coupled with the unfailingly precise animation induce a child's wide-eyed and open-jawed attention. The five-minute teaser that satisfied Hill's competition entry left us literally hanging between March and May. Do NOT miss this.

Artist's Statement:
A collaboration across time, written by the artist aged 12 about events to come at 21. The offspring of half-remembered adventure movies with tail-sting: 'Me and the boss discover Dodo island; I face a deadly struggle with my nemesis, the demented sea scorpion, and finally the TRUTH is revealed.'

My First Taste of Death (still), DVD video, 9 mins 30, 2006

Previous artist in 2007

Alexander Heim

Next artist in 2007

Margot Hill