Abstract
Abstract Iterations is an experimental abstract animation, designed for the site-specific three-channel media façade of ‘MSU: Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb’, screening in the competition ‘Animation goes MSU!’ at the international ‘Animafest Zagreb World Festival of Animated Film’ (2015). Abstract Iterations explores abstract form and colour, innovating upon the heritage of direct-on-film ‘camera-less’ animation techniques (from Lye, McLaren, Brakhage to Woloshen), by transposing the handmade aesthetic to digital processes applied to new media. Abstract Iterations appropriates the image of the iconic painting ‘Black Square’ (1915) by suprematist artist K. Malevich, exhibited a century ago as radical avant-garde statement on visual abstraction. Abstract Iterations aims to re-invent the abstract image as ironic visual experiment through animation.
It builds upon Schmid’s experimentation with “abstract marks made by a digital pen … aiming at a handmade aesthetic” cited by G. Bendazzi (2015) and upon exterior public space screenings of ‘Interior’ and Coincidence’ hybrid animations at ‘SICAF on Media Canvas’ (Schmid, 2014). The primary artefact Abstract Iterations was one of sixteen animations selected internationally by MSU and Animafest (2015) for public space screening. It seeks to demonstrate that abstract art resonates in animation and to affect the viewer’s aesthetic experience of visual abstraction.
The artefact results from research on the influence of abstraction in art on historical artist-filmmakers (from Oskar Fischinger to Robert Breer), related concepts of ‘purist animation’ (Moritz, 1988) parallel to abstraction in art (Blazwick, 2015) and their legacies discernible in contemporary animations. Research was disseminated at international symposia: Schmid presented the masterclass Malevich Re-animated at the Punto Y Raya Academy (2015) and curated a film programme of contemporary animations adopting Malevich’s ‘square’ as visual iconography (Yoneda, Vermette, Subotnik) as part of the presentation Innovations in Abstract Animation at Scanner II – Animafest 2015. Subsequently, the research was developed further towards cinematic films screening at international festivals.
It builds upon Schmid’s experimentation with “abstract marks made by a digital pen … aiming at a handmade aesthetic” cited by G. Bendazzi (2015) and upon exterior public space screenings of ‘Interior’ and Coincidence’ hybrid animations at ‘SICAF on Media Canvas’ (Schmid, 2014). The primary artefact Abstract Iterations was one of sixteen animations selected internationally by MSU and Animafest (2015) for public space screening. It seeks to demonstrate that abstract art resonates in animation and to affect the viewer’s aesthetic experience of visual abstraction.
The artefact results from research on the influence of abstraction in art on historical artist-filmmakers (from Oskar Fischinger to Robert Breer), related concepts of ‘purist animation’ (Moritz, 1988) parallel to abstraction in art (Blazwick, 2015) and their legacies discernible in contemporary animations. Research was disseminated at international symposia: Schmid presented the masterclass Malevich Re-animated at the Punto Y Raya Academy (2015) and curated a film programme of contemporary animations adopting Malevich’s ‘square’ as visual iconography (Yoneda, Vermette, Subotnik) as part of the presentation Innovations in Abstract Animation at Scanner II – Animafest 2015. Subsequently, the research was developed further towards cinematic films screening at international festivals.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Media of output | Film |
| Size | 3-channel digital |
| Publication status | Published - 26 May 2015 |
| Event | 'Animation goes MSU!’ at ‘Animafest Zagreb – World Festival of Animated Film' (2015): part of ‘Animafest Zagreb – World Festival of Animated Film 2015’ - MSU: Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia Duration: 26 May 2015 → 12 Jun 2015 http://www.animafest.hr/en/2015/side_event/read/animation_goes_msu_3 |