Find of the week: Bruce Bickford

Just came across some absolutely mind blowing 70's-80's claymation by underground animator Bruce Bickford. Most famous for working with Frank Zappa Bickford's animation is wildly imaginative and technically brilliant. It seems to have a hint of early 80's MTV about it to me and some of the scenes in his work remind me of the slightly darker segments of obscure children's claymation The Adventures of Mark Twain. The great thing about Bickford's animation is that the way it's shot gives the impression of all the weird beasts and human figures and surreal landscapes come from one lump of ever expanding clay. The rate at which these scenes and figures grow and shrink and the way the camera moves around the landscape is nothing short of stunning.
I've just ordered his 28 minute film Prometheus' Garden off Amazon and await it eagerly, although you can also get a feature length documentary on his work called Monster Road.

For the trailer to Prometheus's Garden click on the picture below.