DJ Spooky vs. WebSpinstress M2002

Digital Animation Credits: Produced and Directed by: Michelle Handelman; Music by: DJ Spooky - That Subliminal Kid and The Dub Pistols; Design and Animation by: Lucy Blackwell; Sound Design by : Vincentlanierbaker This is a new addition to Handelman's constructed persona series, "The Adventures of Lucky M." Here her character stars as "WebSpinstress M" a mischievous punk who takes on the culture spin king of the art world, DJ Spooky. From the dregs of outdated technology to the pinnacle of the superbrand, this is a re-spinning of the old spider and the fly tale. A wry look at seduction and art politics in an age of corporate branding; where art and self-promotion feed the timeless race toward fandom. "I have respun the old spider and the fly tale into a web of digital seduction, using the metaphor of spin to comment on the institutional branding of culture. This piece started as a project for "Test Pattern: Collaborations between visual artist's and DJ's" where participants were asked to make visual work inspired by the participating DJ's. Paul D. Miller aka DJSpooky and I were paired for the exhibit. Paul gave me music to use and I worked with designer/animator Lucy Blackwell to create us as animated characters. For the past few years I have been developing a Superhero/trickster performance character called "Lucky M" and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to bring her into a cartoon format. Vincent Lanier Baker provided the final touches, constructing precision sound effects to articulate cultural metaphors." – Michelle Handelman 2002 Available in DVD or video formats