After all episodes of Big Brother are exhausted, late night TV on England’s Channel 4 consists of Random Acts, a short-form “daily arts strand.” They call it television as art, rather than about art.
An upcoming part of this stream comes from Aardman Animations directors Karni & Saul, who have made a 3-minute “Lynchian” film about a sunbathing, flower crown-wearing girl who is infested by her own insect tattoos. “In ‘Skinmeal,’ we tried to make a piece that was visually tempting and at the same time had a sharp edge to it,” Karni & Saul said.
The concept sounds terrifying, and when a spider crawls out of our protagonist’s scalp I do feel a little squeamish. But with its plinky mood music and limited length, I wonder how the piece will fully employ the fear factor. Skinmeal is a great title; let’s hope they follow through and she really gets devoured, albeit artfully.