Henk Loorbach thinks life is lovely. And with it’s clashing colour and hyperactive, cut-and-paste style, we think his work is pretty lovely too. Lovely in a kind of eclectic, abstract way, but lovely all the same. Given all that mad, lightening-strike, creative energy, it’s seems quite appropriate that Henk’s filmmaking alter ego is Superelectric.
Who is Superelectric?
I’m an artist from Amsterdam, Netherlands. Although I focus mainly on making video, both animation and directing, my background is mixed media art. I sculpt, craft, draw, and collage and try combining all those techniques in my (commercial) video work.
A better description would be what it says on my site. It still pretty much fits the description after 4 years:
I get parking tickets and annoyed.
The atom bomb and the bikini are powerful weapons.
I make video thru the use of all kinds of techniques, computers obviously but I try to combine it with a more “human” feel. Drawings, cut out paper, stop motion, photography, anything goes. By using color, shape and movement in relation to each other and time I try to create a piece that provokes communication of whatever kind. If time wasn’t always such a stress factor I would actually love time.
if it’s visible it is of interest to me and if it’s invisible I am most likely just as interested.
I love my girlfriend, my 2 dogs and a good glass of old rum. I spend my spare time drawing in a sketchbook or with a glass of old rum. I believe music is one of the only true forms of magic left in this world. In general, I can’t stand “isms”, even though i like futurism and cubism, but not necessarily more than other forms of art.
I really admire the work of alexander calder and stuart davis.
I love subtle movement and heavy contrasts, but not too obvious.
Maybe this didn’t tell you anything or it could even be
too much information altogether,
however….
it’s safe to say, superelectric thinks life is lovely.
I understand that Frankenstein’s monster was a big inspiration for Machine Gun – I was wondering if you could expand on that a little?
When Noisia asked me to come up with an idea for the track machine gun, I ran into the problem that I’m not the world’s best linear storyteller. I tend to use chunks of story and collage them together more than really go from start to Finish with it. I started thinking about what a machinegun really is and how and why it was invented. I realized that it reminded me of Frankenstein’s monster in many ways (and of overall human history for that matter).
Humans are unsatisfied with the way things are, so they create something that they think will make it better. This invention then turns on them, or turns out to be harmful to them. Instead of fixing the actual problem, mankind starts accusing the other half of mankind, and after fighting come to a conclusion, which usually is to create yet another thing /invention to solve the earlier problem, which in turn will become an even bigger problem over time.
It’s a classic story, told in many ways, and Frankenstein’s monster tells it very clearly. In Machinegun the hands obviously represent mankind and the rest, well it’s pretty obvious after this explanation I think.
I made my first animations in 1993, super 8 stopmotion stuff. I had no clue what I was doing but I remember being very impressed with myself, (although it was the magic that impressed me, not the skills). My first short film was around the same time.
The films were always a mix between some form video art and classic narratives, I loved old cinema, but was too much in love with experimenting to go to filmschool and become a classic director.
After graduating artschool I got into doing live visuals, which took me into a whole different direction of film.
I found way better use for the experiments I did, the non linearity appealed to me a lot, and the automatic acceptance (by both audience and myself) of using every thinkable medium and style and layer them on top of each other and see it move was a huge new found freedom.
Besides that, I always found graphics and music a very important part of film (be it title sequences or on screen art or performances), so i was naturally drawn to the mix of it all.
After a few years of that, I slowly grew a little bored with it, mainly because the experiments never had a conclusion. I would never really end up with one piece that I could replay with the same intensity as I created it; the music would be different, the audience would respond different, an occasional accident that made it good at first wouldnt reoccur.
While i was doing the visuals i would still do other forms of art and the two just grew more and more apart. That’s why i started to focus more on film and animation as art pieces again, (although I steered very clear from videoart) in more of a design like way, still trying to combine techniques and experimenting within the boundaries of a more communicative style.
Mostly tho: it’s whatever you can see and hear and like and put together and it moves!! That is just so cool.
From your films your website it looks like you’re having lots of fun playing around with creative ideas. Why do you get such pleasure from creativity?
How can you not?
I think everyone does, being creative in terms of solving puzzles is immensely satisfying. It doesnt matter if it’s making the right move in a sports game, a perfect outcome on a difficult mathematical research,
or creating a visual composition of some kind that just feels right. It’s very universal and yet very personal at the same time I think.
In regards to my specific work; i have found a way to combine whatever I love, regardless of what it is. It means that i can do whatever i want, come to think of it, it’s actually harder to explain than i thought.
it really is just that to me, creativity is freedom.
Where do you get our ideas from?
Literally from everywhere at anytime. I don’t believe in inspiration that much. I find it weird to hear that people can only work at a certain hour or have to take a cold bath with a blue hat on to be creative.
Inspiration is connecting dots and the dots are whichever thing you are interested in. I get to walk around this world, and whatever I see, hear or think becomes part of my personal clipboard or scrapbook.
i freely combine whatever emotion i feel with whatever I see or remember at that time, add some music I hear a day or two later, change the colors to what I see on a girl’s dress and throw in some quote I read that makes sense to me at that time.
Observing is the basis of creating. Then comes the hard part: trying to understand what it is you’re seeing. Making it your own. I don’t think stealing is a crime, but stealing an idea and not understanding what you have in your hand is stupid. Making it your own is understanding yourself and understanding your position towards the subject, (re)interpreting the world around you is revaluing and redesigning on the go. It’s always and it’s constant.
What gets you excited? And what makes you angry?
Many things get me excited, because they define me. But more specifically, my girlfriend does. I mean that in a broad way really, I am excited to go home and see her, see her smile and hear her talk. My dog, he’s retardedly cool to me.
Music. It is so immensely beautiful and it ranges from pure anger to pure bliss. Dark aged rum, pineapple, coconut, seafood, sun, travel, plants and birds, the smell of printing ink, old people in love, wood, a fat cheque, paper, bridges, velcro, sticky notes, chocolate, my friends.
Angry, I’m not that often angry. I get angry with the world and life sometimes, with the unfairness of it. But in general I’m quite a happy little fucker.
But if you need to hear something, birds in cages. That is just so dumb. Dumb in general is a good pisser-offer too, people that don’t think or refuse to think despite what’s happening around them. Political correctness for example gets me angry cause it’s fake and it eventually makes things worse, while people hide behind it as ignorant idiots. That said, it shouldnt be confused with being inconsiderate, because i dislike sheer unfriendlyness as well.
What do you do when you’re not making films?
I make other things, i gather new ideas for new films, I perform exotic science, I drink rum, I enjoy life.
For more info about Superelectric and a good dose of insane colour clashing, visit www.superelectric.nl.
