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

A Taste of Russia

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
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.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
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. 
Jews in Service to the Tsar

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
Driving Down Russia's Spine

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 

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