Something that mutoscopes always had was a sign advertising the feature, which usually followed the same aesthetic as vaudeville and burlesque posters. They’d range from massive, detail dripping, extravaganza promising full colour displays to simple block capitals, so i wanted to do one of each. first, the Witch from the Boiling Sea:

I can’t help it. I really enjoy the idea that it’s the out of order machine that’s got the stupidly ornate sign on it – i was playing with black and white for a while, but this has really got something great to it, it’s immensely fun in my head. It also reminds me really strongly of Monty Pythons Flying Circus, but that might just be because it’s the first place i ever saw a Bottecelli Venus.

so, given all the ooze and mess, i decided to keep the simpler, text based sign idea for the mutantscope:

The still is a nod to the individual photographs that would sometimes be mounted on the sign. For reasons of health and safety i had to include a flickering image warning, and i deliberately limited my use of colours.

So, the mutoscopes are nearly finished, now on to the private view on tuesday night and my assessment on wednesday… eek.

Vix