Etsy Shop for vladmaster

Franz Kafka Parable Vladmaster Set

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 11:22:36 -0500

$18.00
Vladmasters are handmade viewmaster disks designed, photographed, and hand-assembled by Vladimir. They make use of toys, neglected household objects, and other miscellany to tell 28-picture stories. The Franz Kafka Parable Vladmaster set consists of four disks and a box to keep them in.

In addition to well-known longer works such as The Metamorphosis, The Penal Colony, and The Castle, Franz Kafka wrote a series of parables. These parables are brief and enigmatic re-imaginings of traditional mythic and historic figures. Poseidon grows bored with the sea; Alexander the Great is overcome by the weight of his own body; and the desecration of a temple becomes a ritual event for its worshippers. This Vladmaster set recasts four of Kafka's parables (Couriers, Alexander the Great, Poseidon, and Leopards) with a cast of toys and tissue paper environments. Each image is accompanied by text from the parable printed on the reel.

Lucifugia Thigmotaxis Vladmaster Set

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 23:42:29 -0500

$20.00
Vladmasters are handmade viewmaster disks designed, photographed, and hand-assembled by Vladimir. They make use of toys, neglected household objects, and other miscellany to tell 28-picture stories. Lucifugia Thigmotaxis consists of four disks, a box to keep them in, and a mini-CD soundtrack. The soundtrack features narration, music, sound effects, and ding noises to cue the viewer to change from photo to photo.

Lucifugia means light-fleeing. Thigmotaxis is the need for pressure on all sides of your body in order to feel safe. Together these two words describe the essential nature of the cockroach. Our story concerns the adventures of one such cockroach named Stanley and the events that transpire when he dares to leave the safety of his home behind the refrigerator. Stanley's story is told on a mini-cd accompanying the reels. The soundtrack features narration, sound effects, music, and a wonderful ding noise to cue the change from image to image.

Fear & Trembling Vladmaster Set

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 23:25:38 -0500

$20.00
Vladmasters are handmade viewmaster disks designed, photographed, and hand-assembled by Vladimir. They make use of toys, neglected household objects, and other ephemera to tell 28-picture stories. The Fear & Trembling Vladmaster set features four disks, a box to keep them in, and a mini-CD soundtrack.

Fear & Trembling is about a dinner party as seen from inside the head of someone who probably shouldn't have come. Escape is sought and perhaps found. The found-sound soundtrack is by Morgan Hobart and features a blip noise to cue the change from photo to photo.

The Public Life of Jeremiah Barnes Vladmaster Set

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:01:57 -0500

$20.00
Vladmasters are handmade viewmaster disks designed, photographed, and hand-assembled by Vladimir. They make use of toys, neglected household objects, and other miscellany to tell 28-picture stories. The Public Life of Jeremiah Barnes consists of four disks, a box to keep them in, and a mini-CD soundtrack. The soundtrack features narration, music, sound effects, and ding noises to cue the viewer to change from photo to photo.

On March 19th 1992 a recreational airplane flying low over the Cascade foothills noticed an unusual number of orange forms dotting the forest floor. Further investigation revealed 86 earthmoving vehicles, idle and overgrown with weeds, spread over five acres of forest. The Public Life of Jeremiah Barnes is a Vladmaster investigation of this occurance and the man who may or may not have been responsible for it. The story is told in dioramas built from tiny model railroad men and 55-cent plastic bulldozers. Almost none of the objects are larger than one inch in any dimension.

Italo Calvino Invisible Cities Vladmaster Set

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:01:18 -0500

$18.00
Vladmasters are handmade viewmaster disks designed, photographed, and hand-assembled by Vladimir. They make use of toys, neglected houehold objects, and other miscellany to tell 28-picture stories. The Italo Calvino Vladmaster set consists of four disks and a box to keep them in.

In Italo Calvino's novel Invisible Cities Marco Polo entertains an aging Kubla Khan by recounting tales of cities that he has visited in his travels. Marco Polo describes fifty-five such cities and the novel revels in the interplay between the different cities so that the reader is left to wonder whether the cities actually represent different aspects of a single city, different internal experiences of place, or something else entirely. Unfortunately, these Vladmasters which recount excerpted tales of only four such cities, cannot hope to recreate the resonances and complexities of the novel. Instead they offer pretty three-dimensional pictures assembled out of small household objects and the hope that those who have not yet read the novel might feel compelled to do so

The four cities included in the set are: Zirma, a city which mysteriously repeats itself; Valdrada, a city built on a reflective lake where every person and action is mirrored; Argia, a city with dirt in place of air; and Baucis, a city elevated high above the clouds on thin stilts. Each image is accompanied by text printed onto the reel describing the city.

Viewmaster Viewer

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 15:59:00 -0500

$5.00
Black viewmaster viewer. For the viewing of handmade Vladmaster disks which can be found at vladmaster.etsy.com

Actaeon at Home Vladmaster Set

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:58:34 -0400

$20.00
Vladmasters are handmade viewmaster disks designed, photographed, and hand-assembled by Vladimir. They make use of toys, neglected household objects, and other miscellany to tell 28-picture stories. The Actaeon at Home set consists of four disks, a box to keep them in, and a mini-CD soundtrack.

Actaeon, to the ancient Greeks, was a hunter unlucky enough to get a good look at Artemis bathing naked amongst her nymphs. For his trespasses, Actaeon was transformed into a stag and then devoured by his own hounds. Our Actaeon is a small man in a room with striped wallpaper and antlers and a typewriter and a collection of Currier & Ives prints. It seems that he is being attacked by his surroundings. Later, there is a train chase.

All of this you will experience photographically with the CD soundtrack as your guide. The soundtrack features a score by the Apt Ensemble, a trio of musicians who lead you through the Vladmaster story playing a variety of instruments and providing the odd sound effect. Listen carefully and you will hear everything from a pump organ to a tuba to a musical saw to a train whistle. And, of course, there will be ding noises to cue the change from photo to photo.