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Collage and Animation

  • Lucy Winnicott
  • Apr 26, 2020
  • 3 min read

Updated: Apr 27, 2020

On reflection of my previous experiments and crit-show pieces, I found that often the work (although made a statement alluding to play) wouldn't create an immersive environment where people could actively engage instead my work would just be viewed - not my original intention! The overall consensus I get from crit feedback is that my work should fill the entries pace, which is a great idea and how I envisage my work but the expense and the long process of making my work, which isn't always easy to do. Much like a sensory room which can be found in special needs schools or hospitals, I would like there to be sensory stimulations present on all surfaces in the space to create a constructed, inviting environment. I began to look at alternative ways of displaying abstract forms present in my soft structures. I like how when people play with the soft sculptures they activate them into a tangible interaction. Such activation is present in the animation work of Katy Dove. Dove paints and draws random forms without a pre-determined outcome, she then scans these into an editing software to animate them virtually on the screen. Her practice explored abstraction and the relationship between moving image and sound - this created a kind of pre-language made from forms instead of words. Dove would animate the forms corresponding to natural, musical and human sounds, each animation very different to the next. 'Luna' (2004) combined clock chimes and voices, as the forms appeared to float through the screen - twisting, shifting and disbursing in random paths. In contrast 'Motorhead' (2002) presents energetic electronic sounds whilst the forms pulse and would break apart and back again in the loud reliefs of the music. I could imagine animation being projected to spread across the walls in a space to create illusions of materiality and interaction through animations.

So I began to experiment with this idea. I didn't want to create shapes online as I wanted the texture present on the screen. I started utilising materials that I had at home due to the lockdown and I found this pushed me to use material I wouldn't have thought about using for my project. I combined coloured paper and embroidery thread and explored abstract forms on a two-dimensional surface by cutting out the paper at random then stitch details and connections through the thread. The embroidery thread also added extra depth and materiality to what was a flat form. Often the forms would be off the top of my head or a reflection to previous soft sculptures. I then scanned the collaged forms into my computer, cutting out the background using Photoshop and imported them (as well as other paper cutouts I had made) into AfterEffects.

Before editing, I made a rough timeline of how I wanted the forms to move across the film - The timeline helped me to focus on where each of the forms should start and end through the duration of the animation. The editing process took me the course of three days due to the fact it was my first time using the software and I underestimated the amount of time each frame takes with so many elements. I played around with the positioning of the forms, testing out the motions of movement through the timeline and also through trial and error of what worked best. The shapes weren't particularly responding to music (in the sense of moving exactly in time with sounds) but quite universally flowing movements of turns, bobbing up and down and shifting in and out of the frame that I later added sound in. Like 'Luna', I wanted the animation to connote tranquillity in conjunction with play with forms - this led me to research sounds that promote calmness and sounds in nature, I ended up deciding on 'Wind Chimes (2)' by an unknown artist which I was drawn to the random chimes which intensified and softened in an abstract rhythm. I Imported the music into the software and experimented with fading in and out the music and the timing of the chimes. I think the collages were visually successful as even though the screen the textures were visible and they had an element of vibrancy in the craft-like materials. This work, I feel, explored the activation and abstraction of material forms on the screen. It is a short animation running just over 1 minute, however, I am pleased with the outcome where the forms are digitally animated alongside the tranquil sounds of the chimes to create a therapeutic dialogue. I want this work to be projected and the movements of the forms to fill the space to produce a calm, sensory environment. This has been one of my favourite experiments in my practice where I have been able to create a dynamic of materiality on the screen... definitely will be exploring animation further.


 
 
 

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