|
Stephen Quay
Birth at
17 June 1947
|
The twin brothers Quay (Stephen Quay, Timothy Quay) were born near Philadelphia in Norristown, Pennsylvania. They studied film and book graphics at the Philadelphia College of Art, and then received a master’s degree in London – at the Royal College of Art, where they continued their study of these disciplines and where they made three short animated films. Returning to America, they tried to make a living by book illustration, although from an economic point of view the times were tough. They were
more
The twin brothers Quay (Stephen Quay, Timothy Quay) were born near Philadelphia in Norristown, Pennsylvania. They studied film and book graphics at the Philadelphia College of Art, and then received a master’s degree in London – at the Royal College of Art, where they continued their study of these disciplines and where they made three short animated films. Returning to America, they tried to make a living by book illustration, although from an economic point of view the times were tough. They were increasingly disappointed in the two-dimensional world of drawing and gradually came to the idea of re-creating three-dimensional worlds in miniature (in the manner of Joseph Cornell boxes) using dolls and objects using cinematic animation.
In 1978, they received a grant from the National Foundation for the Promotion of the Arts. They traveled to England, Belgium and Holland, studying the art of puppet theater. Their former colleague at the Royal College of Art, Keith Griffiths, worked at the time as deputy head of production at the British Film Institute and, while they were in London, offered them to apply for funding for an "experimental" film. They immediately wrote a short puppet film and went to Holland. A few months later, they received a telegram saying they had received a British Film Institute grant.
They returned to London, like James Joyce, who, when he came to Paris, planned to stay only for two weeks, but instead lived there for 25 years. In our case, we planned to stay only 9 months to make the film, but we ended up staying here for almost 25 years. Our first film was followed by a second, then a third and a fourth, etc. This time, together with producer Keith Griffiths, they formed a small film company Koninck and over the next 24 years created a variety of puppet films.
Commissioned by Channel Four for a series of dance films called Choreographers and Filmmakers, they made the film The Duo. Will Tuckett's 18-minute ballet from the Royal Ballet. For the BBC project Sound and Images, they made the film In Absence, for which Karlheinz Stockhausen wrote music. They continued to collaborate with choreographer Will Tuckett in a 40-minute short story by E. T. A. Hoffman called Sandman.
In addition to film, they also work as designers of dramatic, opera and ballet performances in London and Europe.