February 08, 2019

Tomin: Video Artist Extraordinaire


Tomin: Video Artist Extraordinaire

The camera moves toward a Russian apartment block window to reveal that the view outside is of the Earth from space...

Looking out another window onto a courtyard, clothespins on a line suddenly turn into birds and fly away...

These are but two mesmerizing scenes from Russian artist Tomin’s latest video, Sketches. Clocking in at just two minutes, it offers about a dozen mind-bending scenes.

There is something unsettling and yet attracting about Tomin’s work. At one level it is completely whimsical (the clothespins or the view of Earth), while on another it is also a bit disturbing (odd red blogs being ejected from a stoplight). But it is always creative and beautifully polished.

Tomin (full name Vladimir Tomin) lives and works in Khabarovsk, which he describers as a place of "very cold winters, pretty hot summers, absolutely beautiful nature and not much else. To an outside observer, our city might appear a bit simplistic side, but I love it!"

Tomin says he does his art, "if I may call it that [yes, you definitely can!] mainly as a distraction from my main work. I do motion graphics for living, but there is rarely any creative freedom, the client is always right, haha). So when I do my stuff it’s very liberating. A good contrast!"

As to where he finds inspiration for his offbeat realities, Tomin says that "anything around can be an inspiration. All you really need to do is to clear your head and be open to the world around you. If you have enough free space in your mind, there is good chance sometime soon this space will become occupied with some really good ideas. You need some training to recognize that an idea is in fact good and worth doing. And you need to know your skillset, because some ideas are just too hard to do, and hard to do is not always the same thing as good. And that’s pretty much it!"

Easy for him to say...

Tomin’s art is a curious mixture of video and 3D rendering that is at times disturbingly real (the cursor peeling up the center line in a road, or the birds and penguin on the roof), but other times obviously rendered (the charger that turns into toilet paper, or a wall outlet that turns into a pig’s snout), but no less fun to watch.

Here are a few other compilations from the mind and work of Tomin. Enjoy and be sure to use the buttons at the top of the page to share with others. And be sure to also visit Tomin’s website.

Carpenator is a bit of a rumination on Arnold Schwarzenneger, because, well, why not?

Portals is a mesmerizing trip through city parks where one reality blends into another.

Render is a more obvious blending of 3d modeling and video, but with some fun and surprising effects.

Finally, 2019 is a holiday video with a fantastic opener that is perfect for those in the North currently “enjoying” the depths of winter.

 

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
Murder and the Muse

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
At the Circus (bilingual)

At the Circus (bilingual)

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955