The Blackheart Gang’s ‘The Tale of How: The Book’
June 3, 2009 | Tags: animation, Blackheart Gang, F5, high art
I had the very good fortune to attend the F5 Fest digital media conference in NYC in mid-April, and am still recovering from the overwhelming presentations by some of the best of the best in the business — not to mention the open bar from roughly 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. each day. (More on F5 to come in future posts.)
One of the oddest and most inspiring presentations came from a trio of illustrator/designer/director/musicians from South Africa — Ree Treweek, Jannes Hendrikz, and Markus Smit — who call themselves The Blackheart Gang.
They got the world’s attention in 2006 with a 4-minute animated masterpiece called The Tale of How:
While we’re waiting for the other two parts of a promised trilogy (including The Tale of Then and The Tale of When), and the gang mostly occupies itself with some very high-profile paying gigs for its sister project, Shy The Sun and appearances at digital media conferences that seem always to be compared with MTV Video awards presentations, the Tale of How now has an unlikely presence in the offline world: a coffee table book.
I grabbed a few copies from the gang’s producer, Nina Pfeifer, before she left New York. It’s every bit as stunning as the film:
Characteristically, the gang describes the book this way:
If we were to imagine that a coffee table was a person, then the Tale of How coffee table book should be considered to be some sort of fabulous wig or magical hat that the above-mentioned person could wear out to parties and things. Theses Parties will probably share very little resemblance to your average “birthday-cake-and-balloon” jobs.
It’s a beautifully printed and constructed 40-page book, with handwritten verses from the film on the left-hand pages and full-page illustrations on the right. It comes with a DVD of the film and other extras, and “makes a great present for children and widows alike.”
The only bad news: the online shop where the book is for sale has been up and down. Write the gang and tell them you can’t wait!
UPDATE: Shop is now online and working fine. Order early and often, and don’t overlook the gorgeous prints from the book for sale too.
UPDATE 2: The guys tell me the big book shipment was delayed and their shop will be offline for a week or so. Patience! It’ll be worth the wait!
