Month: March 2019

I’m at a point in my career – and life – where I’m trying to redefine the nature of my role. It’s all a process, and I can see the path behind me, what brought me here, all the times I started something new…and I enjoy the adventure of not quite knowing how the rest of it will be.

Henrique Barone’s recent post on Motionographer beautifully describes his own path, from TV animation to school in Canada, to years working with Giant Ant, and then with the birth of their daughter, how he and his wife had to adjust their “keystone”, their commitment to their professional life, with one more focused on flexibility for their child.

He writes “Having kids it’s the only real and unbreakable life long commitment someone will ever do. Everything else, every other commitment or agreement can be either undone or broken but, from now on, Fer is a mom and will forever be a mom; I’m a dad and will forever be a dad. This is our black and white spot in a grey and ever-changing world. A solid point on our liquid lives. That is our new, and stronger, keystone.”

I made the same choice when my son was born – leaving a job that was really fulfilling – to work freelance. And with the birth of my daughter three years later, I knew I needed to keep flexible hours to be there for all the infinite things of the early years. I have continued to work and experiment on my own work and as a freelancer, but in the last year I wish for a taller platform from which to share my work. Or a larger network – I’m not sure the right solution. More creative input, not just production skills. The older I become, the more certain I am that there is not one right answer. It’s all a process. One must revisit and revise. I have this quote from Antonio Machado in my sketchbook: “Traveler, there is no path…the path is made by walking.”

I have long loved and followed the amazing work of William Kentridge.

He is always experimenting with format and technique, while keeping a consistent and recognizable style and subject.

He creates films using his charcoal drawings – he is an animator, yet remains firmly rooted and thriving in the art world. Perhaps because I arrived to animation after art, and have worked for years in the commercial realm, keeping one eye, hand and foot* in the more creative and artistic world, I admire his ability to do so and try to steer and navigate to do the same.

His installation, “The Refusal of Time,”from 2012, is a work about time, space and the legacies of colonialism and industry. He references early cinema, the science of time and imagery.

Lately I’ve been experimenting with anamorphic drawings, like the projections for his film “What Will Come“, which initially motivated me to revisit his work. Always inspiring – time well-spent

*if I’m lucky and work hard to do so!

For those who fear that computers will replace us all, fear not…we are still more than a sum of huge data sets. The creativity and unpredictability in our world may be that which is our greatest asset.

Many are in favor of trying to develop creative streaks and problem-solving skills within AI networks. “New artificial intelligence systems are using adversarial networks to develop creativity and originality by more fluidly mixing and matching real-world information.” – Chris Baraniuk for Scientific American.

GANs are able to use the information and source material fed to it by humans to create a lot of new material, but guidelines are established to assist in the decision-making process. So the next step is to train the network on when to follow the rules and when to discard them and follow their own path. Exciting / scary? I think some of both.