Rehearsals for Extinct Anatomies (1988)

• 71%
• 1988
• Animation
• Timothy Quay
• Stephen Quay

Oscillating hands each hold a pen; a man made of wire has a malevolent look and an oscillating eye as he pokes at a bump on his forehead. Op-art stripes are in the fabric. Lines become jumbles that become balls that oscillate, bounce, or stay suspended in air. In a dark apartment, a man lies in bed, a forlorn woman stands nearby rubbing first her forehead then her chest; a fan whirs between them. On either side of their apartment are well-lit chambers with stairs and forms at right angles bathed in light. Briefly a human moves onto the set to place a ball. The camera moves among these figures and landscapes; mournful violin music, sometimes staccato, plays.