Collage Animation

 

Here is my final animation. It took a long time to finalise it but i’m quite happy with the result. Seeing as it’s a medium i’ve never worked in, i think it’s quite effective. I decided to use charcoal as the main material for the portrait, as i found that when i continually moved it to the scanner, it would fade and smudge, and created life within the animation. It made the portrait feel more substantial as the image developed and formed the whole piece. I also decided to use my mother as the model, as i felt that having a personal input to the piece, would resonate with the over all effect. To any one else, it would just be a stranger, but i found that when drawing her, i was able to instil more emotion within the work, than wouldn’t be there if i had just used an image of someone i didn’t know. So there was an emotional process as well as the technical process, and as i cut away at her to reveal the image of space underneath, there was quite an unusual feeling, and i did get a sense of acceptance of the inevitability and the ephemeral nature of death. i like to think that the animation is provocative, however, i don’t think it’s what i want to display as my final work. After meeting with Neil and experimenting with the projection, i felt that it didn’t hold as much strength as my collages. It focuses on one specific attitude and element of my theme, where as my collages explores various avenues within my concept. I also think that the projection environment would be too intimidating  and forces the viewer into a certain habitat and state of mind. The environment would only isolate the projection and theme, much like we do in modern western society, you would have to enter into a closed space to experience the work, but i want my work to be understood as a universal and everyday occurrence. Throughout my work this year, i’ve wanted to strike a less aggressive approach to Memento Mori, and i think that the animation is just not as appropriate as my collages.

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