Jim Blashfield (born September 4, 1944,

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...

) is an American filmmaker and media artist, best known for his short films such as ''Suspicious Circumstances'' and ''The Mid-Torso of Inez'', and his music videos for musicians

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991.Talki ...

, Joni Mitchell,

Nu Shooz Nu Shooz is an American R&B group fronted by husband-and-wife team of John Smith and Valerie Day, based in Portland, Oregon, United States. Nu Shooz released four albums in the U.S. during the 1980s. Their third album, '' Poolside'', brought t ...

, Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel,

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

Tears for Fears Tears for Fears are an English pop rock band formed in Bath, England, in 1981 by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith. Founded after the dissolution of their first band, the mod-influenced Graduate, Tears for Fears were associated with the new ...

, Marc Cohn, and "Weird Al" Yankovic. He has collaborated with

Bill Frisell William Richard Frisell (born March 18, 1951) is an American jazz guitarist, composer and arranger. Frisell first came to prominence at ECM Records in the 1980s, as both a session player and a leader. He went on to work in a variety of contexts ...

and the

Oregon Symphony The Oregon Symphony is an American symphony orchestra based in Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded as the 'Portland Symphony Society' in 1896, it is the sixth oldest orchestra in the United States, and oldest in the Western United States. I ...

. Blashfield is the recipient of a Cannes Golden Lion, a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

, and 17 MTV Video Music Award nominations, including 3 Awards. Other films include ''Bunnyheads'', ''SuctionMaster'', ''Vanity,'' and ''The Tasseled Loafers'', an irreverent interpretation of Hector Berlioz' ''Dream of a Witch's Sabbath'' with music by the Czech Philharmonic, and the recent film Basement Suite. Recent multi-image installations include the 11 screen welded aluminum sculpture "Mechanism", Tilicum Crossing's "Flooded Data Machine", the 7 screen "Circulator" and the 5 screen "Conveyor".

Filmography

Selected short films

* *''The Mid-Torso of Inez'', (1978) Produced in collaboration with Vern Luce *''Suspicious Circumstances'', (1985) Music by Steve Koski, Ken Butler and Stan Wood *''My Dinner with the Devil Snake'' (1990) *'' The Tasseled Loafers'', (2001) Music by Hector Berlioz and the Czech Philharmonic *''St. Helens Road'', (2002) Music by the Land Camera Micro Orchestra (2002) *''The Lone Ranger'', (2002) Music by Bill Frisell *''Bunnyheads'', (2007) Based on the sculpture of Christine Bourdette, co-produced with Lourri Hammack *''SuctionMaster: Triumph of Science'' (2008) *''Vanity'' (2010)

Moving Image Installations

*''Evolution of a City'', (1997) Produced in collaboration with Carol Sherman *''Running Dog w/ Cactus'', (2002) *''The Resurrectory'', (2004) In collaboration with the Liminal Performance Group *''Conveyor'', (2010) *''Circulator'', (2011) *''Flooded Data Machine'', (2015 *''Mechanism'' (2017)

Theater / Performance

*''Bird of Paradise", (1989) Written and directed in collaboration with Victoria Parker

Music videos

And She Was "And She Was" is a song by the American band Talking Heads, from their 1985 album ''Little Creatures''. The song was written by David Byrne, who also provides the lead vocals. The song is musically notable for its unusual use of modulation. The ...

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(1985) / MTV Nominations (1986): Best Group Video, Best Concept Video *"Good Friends'', '' Joni Mitchell'' (1985) *" I Can't Wait",

(1985) *" Boy in the Bubble", Paul Simon (1986) / MTV Nominations (1987): Best Video, Best Special Effects, Best Art Direction, Most Experimental, Viewers' Choice *" Don't Give Up" (version 2), Peter Gabriel &

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single " Wuthering Heights", becoming the first female ...

(1986) *" Leave Me Alone",

(1989) / Grammy Award (1990): Best Short Form Music Video / Cannes Golden Lion Award (1989): Best Special Effects / MTV Award (1989): Best Special Effects / MTV Nominations (1989): Best Video, Breakthrough Video, Best Art Direction, Best Editing, Viewers' Choice *" Sowing the Seeds of Love",

(1989) / MTV Awards (1990): Breakthrough Video, Best Special Effects / MTV Nominations (1990): Best Group Video, Best Post-Modern Video *"Walk Through the World",

Marc Cohn Marc Craig Cohn (; born July 5, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. He won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1992. Cohn is best known for the song " Walking in Memphis" from his eponymous 1991 album, which was a Top 40 ...

(1993) *"

Pancreas The pancreas is an organ of the digestive system and endocrine system of vertebrates. In humans, it is located in the abdomen behind the stomach and functions as a gland. The pancreas is a mixed or heterocrine gland, i.e. it has both an en ...

", "Weird Al" Yankovic (2006)

Sesame Street

Blashfield Studio produced several segments directed by others for ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) ...

'' during the 1980s and the 1990s. *''The Word is No'' *'' Monster in the Mirror'' *''Exploring in Your Closet'' *''Forty Blocks from My Home'' *''Isadora's Sneakers'' - a short about the

seasons A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

*''I Like to Pretend'' - I Can Fly / I'm an Astronaut

References

Blashfield interview at the Golden Age of Music Video website

External links

Blashfield Studio website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blashfield, Jim 1944 births Living people Animators from Washington (state) American animated film directors American music video directors Filmmakers from Seattle Grammy Award winners