UNIT 7 Animotion exhibition at The Civic

At the start of unit 7 we visited the Animotion exhibition at The Civic to gather primary research of time based Medias for our projects. Even though the exhibition is only a small collection it covers a wide variety of time based Medias ranging from the traditional zoetrope methods to using new technology to create complex exhibits. Personally, I preferred the more modern exhibits to the older ones due to the fact that the way they work is mind boggling to me and its fascinating to see how the combination of different processes create the end result especially the exhibits that have an interactive element such as the ‘SYNCHRONIcITY’ table. Furthermore, the meanings behind some of the exhibits are cleverly thought out and make you look at the art work in a different light, for example: ‘the nature of imagination’ exhibition at first look appeared to be simply just fun however the ideas behind the artwork is such a unique way to look at the way we think about our own actions and how we interpret others actions without really knowing what the other can see. Overall, I enjoyed the exhibit and thought it has taught me a lot about the history of time based Medias and why someone might use a time based media to represent an idea.

Morph
Aardman Animation

This display showcases the set and the character of Morph the animated clay character that featured in popular children's TV shows throughout the seventies and eighties.



Calavera
Spacecadets air design

A Calvera represents a human skull and is usually made of sugar or clay for the Mexican celebration of the Day of the Dead, this inflatable calvera is animated by the phenakistoscopes projected onto the skulls eyes, these animations would change when you triggered the motion censor. Here is a link to a video of the calavera: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83vqgoIJ_58

The Nature of Imagination
David Urwin

Urwin explores the way that we can never truly see the world the way another person does, unless we share their world view. One visitor wears a headset allowing them to see a virtual world in which they react to whereas other visitors only see the skeletons actions.

My favourite piece at the exhibition was the "SYNCHRONIcITY" interactive table created by Michele Panegrossi and AYE AYE Interactive Experiences at the beginning of 2016; the processes used to bring the table to life is stop motion animation and projection mapping. The artwork doesn't change from different angles except the 3D aspects of the table from a horizontal angle however when your hand hovers over the table the appearance of the area below your hand changes. This type of time based media will be hard to preserve since the work uses certain software's however if copies of his work and the software were made and kept safe then the artwork can be projected onto the table once more in the future. If I could talk to the artist I would as him what inspired him to begin the creative process of creating this artwork, by asking him this we may be given an insight into perhaps an alternative interpretation of the work. The reasons why this piece was my favourite was because not only was it interactive but the reactions to our movements are varied making it interesting and the process of how it works is a lot more complex than other exhibits.



Interactive, Intriguing, Modern, Unusual, Magical.

Here is a link to a video of the exhibit when interacted with:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4wpyb_7lgY