As an artist, I embrace mixing and remixing old media to craft innovative animations and installations. This integration of physical and digital technologies delves into the experimental possibilities of the medium, blending analog and digital, old and new, to evoke a tactile, sensory connection with the public. My journey as a scholar, inventor, and animator continuously expands upon these experiments, pushing the boundaries of animation to offer fresh, creative solutions and immersive experiences.
As the director of the experimenta.l. Animation Lab, I cultivate an environment where interdisciplinary collaboration flourishes, inspiring hands-on exploration of animation.
The material in my creative process refers to all the palpable physical objects, tools, and devices I use to create the animation. In the case of the Silhouette Zoetrope, in particular, the device's materiality creates an animated optical illusion. The fact that a multiplicity of sequential blue butterflies is perceived as one flying when the apparatus rotates establishes a haptic connection with the viewer. They become active agents in the perception and creation of animated motion. The illusion is not the same when recorded or filmed, and the fact that it invites people to experience it in person, without screens as intermediaries, adds a wondrous effect to it. The device's materiality connects the viewer and the animation more directly, making them the animator.
In the broad sense, animation is art. However, it is an art form seldom experienced in art galleries and museum contexts. Animation as art, in the sense of this exhibition, invites and challenges the viewers to rethink what they traditionally know and understand about animation, hopefully amplifying their scope of what animation is with an appreciation for what it can be.