Media Project: Motion and vitality
The process of birth and evolution is one of the themes expressed in this project. During my study, the power of life expressed by Len Lye's animation and his thought of giving life to lines inspired my exploration of the display of vitality. The movement shown in his animations is creative, this movement can be non-analog and purely sensual.
Norman McLaren said: "Animation is not the art of drawing that move but the art of movement that are drawn." He greatly sums up the biggest characteristics of animation as a media, and it is necessary and interesting to explore the form and result it can bring.
Description
The first half of the media project is intended to show the birth of an unknown life by colours, from a single line to colour blocks, which morphs into a fluidly shaped figure. This project does not have a clear story but a linear timeline representing the evolutionary process. And it focuses more on the process of birth and evolution, rather than an intuitive result. Some Japanese painting genres around World War II were abstract and surreal. This media project refers to the style of Ukiyo-e, expressing unknown things like monsters and oriental gods in organic shapes, and then giving the characteristics of flow to enhance an uncanny and eery feeling; motion also makes the flowing colour blocks seem to have life. The strong correlation between the concept of unconventional life forms and this style in some way creates a unified visual language.
Other than that, synaesthesia is also a common theme in non-narrative animation. Artists, writers and musicians with higher perception tend to have synesthesia more often. Their visual expression can be triggered when reading poetry, listening to music or is even triggered by temperature changes. This concept is used in this project in a simple way, directly expressing the visualization of sound by rhythm and motion. In human infancy, connection with the world begins with constant contact and feedback from the senses and the outside world, this activity helps to build cognitive and behavioural patterns. More than that, synesthesia is a common phenomenon in infancy because early infants have not yet developed a distinctive consciousness of themselves and the world, everything they can sense is interconnected. Although this project is only capable of showing audio and visual aspects, this concept deeply inspired this media project, it makes me explore aspects of the birth of life and synesthesia.
Andrew R. Johnston, “Signatures of Motion: Len Lye’s Scratch Films and the Energy of the Line.” In Animating Film Theory, ed. Karen Beckman, 167-180. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2014.
Kanellos, Emmanouil. “Visual Trends in Contemporary Visual Music Practice.” Body, space & technology journal 17.1 (2018): 22–33. Web.
Patrícia Castello-Branco, “Pure Sensations? From Abstract Film to Digital Images,” Animation 5:1 (2010): 25-40.
Van Leeuwen, Tessa M., et al. “The Merit of Synesthesia for Consciousness Research.” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 6, Dec. 2015, p., doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01850.
Software used: PS, AE, Disco Diffusion, Procreate