NEA Premieres New Sand Animation by Guy Mendilow Ensemble and Sand Artist Kseniya Simonova
In 2012, I fell in love with Kseniya Simonova’s sand animations. There was such nuance to her work, such emotional depth. And all through a medium as simple — as elemental — as sand shifting on a light-table. Her work is transporting and elegant.
When the idea of expanding the storytelling in The Forgotten Kingdom to a visual dimension arose, Kseniya was the first artist that came to mind.
I am humbled and proud to have the opportunity to team up with Kseniya Simonova in a collaboration made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts and The Boston Foundation.
The National Endowment for the Arts premieres our first video together from the show. Eventually the entirety of The Forgotten Kingdom will be animated. For now I am excited to share with you this piece.
—Guy
About the video
Una Noche Al Bodre De La Mar (One Night at the Edge of the Sea) is a turning point in The Forgotten Kingdom. Based on the true story of one of my wife’s family members, it tells the tale of a decorated captain from WWI, betrayed by a nation whose turn to fascism threatens all for which he fought and
NEA’s Art Works Podcast with Guy Mendilow (airs approximately 1PM EST 12/15)
Along with the premiere, I’ll be a guest on the National Endowment for the Arts’ podcast Art Works, also airing Friday, December 15. In this episode Josephine Reed and I talk about:
the power of storytelling and music to transport us to the long-ago-and-far-away in order to hold a mirror to our own here-and-now,
the responsibilities and potential pitfalls of working with traditions as old and rich as Sephardic song,
the music that makes up the show The Forgotten Kingdom.
Art Works includes some truly inspiring artists, from Lin Manuel Miranda and Sebastian Junger to Sonny Rollins and Jake Gyllenhaal. It's a delight and an honour to be in such company.
