Off the Wall @ 725 showcases Jodie Mack’s ‘The Grand Bizarre’

Since 2023, curator Gregory Zinman has approached Off the Wall @ 725 as more than a film series. His latest curatorial choice is The Grand Bizarre, the acclaimed 2018 feature by animator Jodie Mack, screening July 18 and 19 at 9 p.m. on the Beltline-facing wall of 725 Ponce.

“I’ve been a big fan of Jodie Mack’s work for a long time—ever since seeing her handmade animation in the music video for Four Tet’s A Joy back in 2005,” Zinman says. “I’ve had the pleasure of showing her work in a variety of settings, from the classroom to the Museum of the Moving Image in New York.”

“What makes The Grand Bizarre so special is its scale.  Like the best art, it teaches us to see the world with fresh eyes.”

Gregory zinman, Curator, Off the wall

The Grand Bizarre is built frame by frame from footage shot in more than a dozen countries. Using fabric swatches, shipping labels, electronics, and maps, Mack constructed a visual journey where patterns bounce, flicker, and dance to a pop soundtrack. Critics have called the film “a global symphony of strange codes and hidden patterns.”

“[Mack’s]  films, which combine abstract patterning and documentary perspectives, can be understood within a storied lineage of experimental animation that reaches back to the 1930s and 40s in the work of Len Lye, Oskar Fischinger, Mary Ellen Bute, and Norman McLaren,” Zinman says. “What makes The Grand Bizarre so special is its scale.  Like the best art, it teaches us to see the world with fresh eyes.”

Zinman views the screening as an opportunity to connect a broad audience with media they may not otherwise encounter. “The most rewarding part of curating a public series like this is sharing my passion for the art of the moving image with the people of Atlanta,” he says. “It’s opening up people to the possibilities of what film and video can be beyond the cineplex and the streaming service.”

Read more:
• Off the Wall @ 725 Ponce film screenings return June 20

He adds, “I sincerely believe that experimental media can change the way we think about and interact with the world. It provides alternative perspectives which can enrich our understanding of what we see and how we see it.”