Vladimir and her Vladmasters!

This week I saw the awesome work of artist Vladimir, from Portland Oregon. Her art medium is View Masters. I had the privilege of seeing her twice in one week while she was here. We witnessed four of her six works that she has made for the view masters, which she has renamed vladmasters. The four presentations were Lucifugia Thigmotaxis, A story about a curious cockroach that ventures beyond his borders and learns a lesson of the hierarchy of the food chain. The second was The Pubic Life of Jeremiah Barnes, A fictitious story about a man who has an odd relationship with heavy earth moving machinery. The third was Actaeon at Home, A story birthed from the Greek mythology about the man Actaeon, a hunter who was torn to pieces by his own dogs after having been turned into a stag by Artemis, the Mistress of the wilds, whom he had seen unrobed. The final piece that we saw was Fear and Trembling, A piece of non linear images where composition and color rule the impressions of the artist and viewer. The thing about theses pieces is that they are not viewed on a screen with the lights down and everybody starring straight forward. These are viewed using ViewMasters with our heads positioned up looking towards a light source. The stories go along with a soundtrack sometimes narrated and sometimes not. The amazing part of the Vladmaster experience is that there is a theatre full of people all using a ViewMaster and everyone is following the story by clicking to the next slide. The community of the event is enough to get excited about. The nostalgia effect is also very cool. I had not picked up a viewmaster in years and now I am watching serious art through them. The one thing about Vladimir is that she is very honest about her work. She realizes that people like the ViewMaster already as a way of telling kids stories and now she takes them to the next level and tells interesting stories and shows artful compostions through a once thought dead medium. I was curious to see how ViewMasters were continuing on in culture and I went to Fisher Price’s website and found out that the art form is alive a booming. In summation I loved Vladimir’s presentation and I think people should support her work. Check out her website. Also visit The Paper Boat to buy locally.