Evento

Art of the Game: Ukiyo-E Heroes @ 2017 St. Louis International Film Festival

Art of the Game takes a highly enjoyable, fascinating look at an unlikely melding of two seemingly incompatible forms: the ancient Japanese woodcut art called ukiyo-e and illustrations inspired by modern video games. Jed Henry, a skilled American illustrator, became fascinated by ukiyo-e the gorgeous prints that were produced by Japanese woodblock artists, primarily during the 17th to 19th centuries and he first intended to learn the laborious and difficult-to-master techniques himself to produce prints of his video-game-inspired artwork. Instead, he discovered a Canadian, David Bull, who has long lived in Japan and has become one of a relative handful of artists/craftsmen still capable of working in the ukiyo-e style. Because no master would take him on as an apprentice, Bull is largely self-taught, but his work is now considered the equal of Japanese practitioners. Henry recruited the initially reluctant Bull to collaborate with him, transforming his illustrations (largely done on computer, further emphasizing the dichotomy) into woodblock prints. The film explores their collaboration, using the production of a new print as a means of leading viewers through the full process, which is insanely labor-intensive and necessitates using an array of highly specialized handmade items (both paper and tools), whose artisans we see at work as Bull secures the materials he needs. The documentary also offers intertwined bios of the two men, and both prove articulate, complex, and winning characters.