LE CORPS VERBAL: UN VOYAGE DANS L'UNIVERS DE MARCEL MOREAU (FILM-DÉFILANT)

On the occasion of the radio-transmission ‘Le Corps Verbal: un voyage sonore dans l'univers de Marcel Moreau', Charley Case created this pearl of a short animated work. The Belgian writer and thinker Marcel Moreau – cult followed for his idiosyncratic, instinctive, both organic and lyrical writing style – was interviewed on the radio plus recited from his essay ‘Donc !’, originally published in the volume of writings ‘Violencelliste (2011, Editions Denoël). Moreau’s reflections on his own history as a both a writer, a reader and a human being blend with the characteristics and rhythm of the French language. All this inspired Case to make a series of drawings which he later reworks into this animated masterpiece. This ‘film-défilant’ moves over the screen from the right to the left; an animated fashion that recalls the ancient tradition/ medium of the hand scroll drawing. Pinned on an electronic atmospheric soundtrack that echoes the reflective spirit of Moreau’s writings, Case is not merely illustrating the writer’s unusual way of working. By adding free associations, personal emotions and interpretative layers in both text and drawings, this work slowly develops into a kaleidoscopic ode in the best tradition of the stream of consciousness technique.