What can I learn from simply following the impulse to create?
Role: Year-long senior thesis project, advised by William Colgrove, Keli DiRisio, and Mitch Goldstein.
Process: After spending the Fall semester developing this project, I spent the Spring creating an anthology of five short video projects. where I explored and experimented with different motion design techniques. Accepting the fact that the work would not be perfect, I simply tried to create within the constraints of time (one to three weeks).
Each video is completely different in theme and method, and each medium is something I did not necessarily have a lot of experience in. I also documented the process in an accompanying book, and reflected on what it means to be creative in a larger sense.
What did I learn, by the end of this silly and somewhat self-indulgent exercise? I learned that inspiration can come from anywhere and knowledge can be applied in many ways. I gained more insight about my creative process, how to approach the unknown with confidence, and how to accomplish what I want to create, even if I have no clue what I’m doing.
Episode One: “Cool Party.”
Wallace and Gromit meets Weird Science: an homage to bizarre classics of stop-motion and corny '80s comedies.
A socially-awkward hippo endeavors to host a cool party, but is thwarted by the ice creature who lives in his fridge. Also features the musical stylings of Justin Timberlake.
Wallace and Gromit meets Weird Science: an homage to bizarre classics of stop-motion and corny '80s comedies.
A socially-awkward hippo endeavors to host a cool party, but is thwarted by the ice creature who lives in his fridge. Also features the musical stylings of Justin Timberlake.
Episode Two: “Pneumatic.”
Using hand-drawn charcoal animation, exploring the crushing weight of perfectionism, the knowledge of one's mortality, and the effects of months-long pneumonia.
Using hand-drawn charcoal animation, exploring the crushing weight of perfectionism, the knowledge of one's mortality, and the effects of months-long pneumonia.
Episode Three: “Wake Up!”
Appropriating advertising, infomercials, and other public domain footage from the Internet Archive to express the feeling of noise in the contemporary age (and how important it is to escape it).
Appropriating advertising, infomercials, and other public domain footage from the Internet Archive to express the feeling of noise in the contemporary age (and how important it is to escape it).
Episode Four: “Book.”
Set to the song "Book" by NYC post-punk band Gustaf, using printed-out video to create a mixed-media animation. Embracing the chaos that the collaborative experience brings, I asked my friends to do a 3–5 second motion of their choice. They were allowed to move however they wanted, and those actions (intentional and unintentional) influenced the animation.
Set to the song "Book" by NYC post-punk band Gustaf, using printed-out video to create a mixed-media animation. Embracing the chaos that the collaborative experience brings, I asked my friends to do a 3–5 second motion of their choice. They were allowed to move however they wanted, and those actions (intentional and unintentional) influenced the animation.
Episode Five: “Devolution.”
Exploring explored abstract animation and automatic creation through a series of 225 gelli plate prints; each frame of the 'animation' is a different print. Through repeating motifs and mark-making techniques, my creative process is visually expressed.
Exploring explored abstract animation and automatic creation through a series of 225 gelli plate prints; each frame of the 'animation' is a different print. Through repeating motifs and mark-making techniques, my creative process is visually expressed.
Selected spreads from the book.
A trailer for the full series.
