Monday, August 08, 2005

Experimental animation

Chris Robinson, a.k.a. The Animation Pimp, has written a good column yet again at AWN. He defends experimental animation at festivals and in general terms of how get over that abstract hump. It is a shame that in this day and age with the advent of CG and the dominance of commercial endeavors that animation has regressed to a state of infancy. Again, the form must go through growing pains of let alone technique but of subject matter. Think of all the experimental pioneers of the past...Fischinger, Bute and Bartosch to the Whitney's, Cuba and Sims, that have laid the foundation for us but we have to continually re-invent the wheel. The Richard Reeve's and Steven Woloshen's of the world are trying to continue to push the boundaries of animation while some of them are still soiling their nappies trying to fit the peg into the round hole of formulaic narrative. I know abstraction isn't for everyone but it is frustrating when you see the animation world go erect over a new technique or something good that has snuck past the corporate bean counters, that is great but it is like a little kid getting into a room that they haven't seen before. I can't wait til we make it out into the world again and explore animation for all it has to offer. Especially, at the festival level where experimentation should be received with open minds and enthusiasm.

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