An Amazing Zoo of Steampunk Animals from Vladimir Gvozdev

Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 10, 2011 in Fandom

Steampunk Animal Illustration by Vladimir Gvozdev

This collection of beautifully crafted steampunk animal illustrations are the work of Vladimir Gvozdev, who is a Russian artist known as Gvozdariki. In many ways his work reminds me of those wonderful ink drawings by Murray Tinkelman which go back to the 70s: Read more…

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Behind the Nickel Curtain: A Gallery of 80s Soviet Arcade Games

Posted by Michael Sacco on Sep 13, 2010 in Videogames

Soviet-era arcade machine

It looks like even the folks behind the Iron Curtain couldn’t resist the appeal of an arcade. Dangerous Business highlights their visit to the Museum of Soviet Arcade Games with shots of the amazing arcade machines therein, from the undoubtedly thrilling “Torpedo Attack” (above) to the slightly more mundane “Traffic Sign Quiz” to the incomprehensible “Turnip Strength Tester” (below). What’s notable is that none of these machines seem particularly jovial — all hard edges and dull colors, the hardware equivalent of “programmer art.” Connal Hughes of Dangerous Business noticed it too, commenting that they “looked like they were designed with the same sense of fun that an engineer would use to construct a hospital waiting room.” Who would’ve known that Brutalist design could even produce these kinds of machines? I guess when things in your country are as bad as they were for the Soviets, you have to take what you can get. Read more…

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In Soviet Union Stop Motion Cartoon Stops You!

Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 5, 2009 in Animation

Shown above is the beautiful Soviet propaganda film Mister Twister from the height of the Cold War in 1963. I really love how they’ve done so much here with such a little budget and no technology by modern standards. And of course my favorite shot is the opening scenes showing a decadent New York City which is cluttered with vintage ads. What’s also interesting to me about this cartoon is you can really see how Jim Crow really hurt the image of America abroad during that era: Read more…

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Surrealistic Russian Animation: Frother

Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 3, 2009 in Animation

There’s something very haunting about some of the Russian animation that I’ve seen over the years, there’s a sense of surrealism but there’s something very unnerving underneath the surface. This animated film is from 1991 and is titled Frother (Потец) — it’s based upon a poem Alexander Vvedensky from 1937. The film’s director was Alexander Fedulov (1947 – 1996) and the other worldly art direction is by Vladimir Burkin. Here’s the second part of the film: Read more…

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