Director and animator Parallel Teeth shares his favourite books

Parallel Teeth is the creative moniker of director, animator and graphic artist Rob Wallace. His style is playful and witty spanning live action, 2D animation and puppetry. London-based Rob’s work has been screened at many festivals including Pictoplasma and CutOut Fest and is currently represented by Strange Beast.

In the past we’ve featured his fun short created with Julian Glander, and just last week we premiered the music video he directed and animated for Auckland musician Merk’s song I’m Easy. The film epitomises Rob’s cheery and humourous approach and with many more exciting projects in the pipeline we decided to find out what sits pride of place on his bookshelf. From funky comics to photobooks, Rob has a cornucopia of books to get your teeth stuck into.

Charles Fréger: Yokainoshima

Charles Fréger has photographed people in masks and costumes of ritual figures around the world, but Yokainoshima solely focuses on Japanese culture, showcasing the extensive variety found there.

The costumes are based around the human frame as they are made to be worn. It’s interesting seeing how each one uniquely builds and distorts a person’s silhouette through manipulation of textiles. Photographing them in tranquil rural and coastal settings is a nice way of presenting the figures, removing them from their festive context while still maintaining the bond to their geographical origin.

Patrick Kyle: New Comics 2

Although Patrick Kyle has more ambitious narratives (check out the excellent Distance Mover and Don’t Come In Here) this collection of short tales was the first time I’d come across his work. In the New Comics series Kyle experiments with approaches to the medium through (usually) unrelated tales blending the fantastic with the everyday. His playful mark making and surreal compositions feel natural and not overthought, while still maintaining control of the reader’s eye.

Annebella Pollen: The Kindred of the Kibbo Kift

The Kindred of the Kibbo Kift was an organisation founded in England, 1920. It focused on woodcraft, handicraft, hiking, camping and ritual all mixed together with ambitions of world peace. The organisation’s handmade objects, including clothes, tents and flags, were decorated with a visual aesthetic of bold block colours and symbolic geometric shapes mixed with organic forms.

There is surprisingly very little published about the group, however Pollen’s book covers the subject in-depth through text, photography and artefacts. As an added bonus the design of the book itself is very considered, capturing the ideas of the group in the way it is presented.

Dominic Kesterton: Peeler

While Dominic Kesterton usually creates one-off illustrations and prints, the few zines he has made are always top notch. His zine Peeler is a stream of drawings void of a traditional narrative (though I might be wrong on that), instead what ties the illustrations together are his bold and simplified style which mixes precision with playful ideas. This publication showcases these studies through multi-coloured, Risograph printed spreads. The PVC protective cover is a nice final touch to the zine.

René Alleau: History of Occult Sciences

This book is part of an encyclopaedia series titled Discovery of Science from 1966. Other subjects in the set include Tourism, Social Progress and Biology, so naturally Occult Sciences fitted right in. The book is like any old encyclopaedia, reprinting various photographs, paintings and objects from over the centuries, but with a unique spin. Lots of interesting pictures with tidbits of information, also the cover is 100% badass.