Zbig Rybczynski  

Tango, 1980
Live action animation video
DVD, color, mono sound; 8:10
Courtesy Zbig Vision Ltd.
Artist's Website

Deftly juggling issues of time, place, history and space, Tango uses live action animation to present thirty-six characters from different stages of life. Creating by hand countless cell-mattes and several hundred thousand exposures on an optical printer, Rybczynski loops and overlays their accumulated, solitary actions in a single domestic interior. Tango won the Academy Award® for Best Animated Short in 1983.

Born in Poland in 1949, Rybczynski studiedpainting and cinematography, and began directing films in the early 1970s. Many prestigious, international awards have followed.  A music video director as well from the form’s earliest days, Rybczynski has worked with artists such as Yoko Ono, Art of Noise, and Lou Reed and has been honored numerous times by MTV. Rybczynski has taught film, directed, and worked on the technical side of the industry all over the world. He now lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.