Monday, January 15, 2007

been awhile...

I've managed to get away from the blog for over a month. In the interim both the final project and the portfolio have been completed, and I will post select images from both here.

As for the stop animation that was completed: I need to downsize the file further before I can get it up on youtube. It'll come when that gets done.

From the portfolio:
animation here
The animation created to show the construction process and to demonstrate the story of this project, "The Personal Strife of the Humiliated Lusus Naturae," is an integral component of this project. Influenced firstly by the Brothers Quay, but also by the dismemberments of my childhood dolls, the animation pays homage to the mysticism and curiosity prevalent in 19th century science, but also traveling showmanship of the same era. "Lusus Naturae" translates loosely to contemporary terminologies as "freak," a term often used to describe those that were not of the conventional physical descriptions.

(above: the final project - "the personal strife of the humiliated lusus naturae")
From the portfolio:
Strangely, as "normal" as some of the toys initially look, each toy had its own contribution to the notion of "freak." Some, like the boobah, the teletubby, and even Elmo, are described as monsters from the beginning; to the contrart, their personalities are happy, friendly...
To the other extreme, the stretchy doll and the princess are seemingly both "normal" physically... abnormalities arise from one doll's positive reactions to being stretched (in an almost torturous masochistic way) to the complete passive aggressive personality from the princess. This in many ways is almost more frightening than physical deformities, and is certainly more dangerous, as this doll is likely to inspire a whole new generation of little-girls-come-beauty-queens.

Other images:

(above: the lusus naturae. legs constructed from found mechanisms, fur from existing doll skin + acrylic paint, rotating film is original film + acrylic paint)