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- Volume 9, Issue 1, 2020
Animation Practice, Process & Production - Volume 9, Issue 1, 2020
Volume 9, Issue 1, 2020
- Editorial
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- Articles
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A problem with questions: Improvisation and unforeseen epistemology in animation practice
More LessThe typical research project ostensibly begins with a question. The notion of establishing ‘questions worth answering’ which can be satisfied with confirmable answers is an orientation originally adopted from the sciences, and highlights the practical imposition of the academy to create rigor and consistency. Brad Haseman has suggested that an alternative to the posing of questions for those pursuing practice-based research in the creative arts is to begin with an ‘enthusiasm of practice’ from which useful knowledge may be generated, but returns to the need for the researcher to ultimately articulate a problem (if not a question) to pass the research credibility test. Is the illocutionary act of this retrospective ‘probleming’ not the same as a question? As the question demands an answer, the problem demands a solution. Perhaps this is the defining edge between practice as research and, simply, practice. The alignment of problem and solution (or question and answer) is suspiciously neat, and the form of language demands that they match neatly. Leaning on the experience of my own practice-based Ph.D. in creative media, this article will describe the positioning of improvisational animation production as a mode of practice-enthusiasm that can serve both as methodology and as epistemology for knowledge production in animation research (and related practices). I will discuss potential research questions related to improvisation for animator-researchers, and suggest that this mode of practice can yield useful, verifiable knowledge without recourse to the question–answer or the problem–solution formulation. In fact, the imposition of these, even post hoc, may undermine the research value of improvised practice and its epistemological clarity. The enthusiasm in this case may be the lack of answers or solutions that (at least linguistically) terminate the very origin of the enthusiasm for the practice.
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Knowledge production as process in arts practice as research
By Sally PearceIn her article ‘Vital methodologies: Live methods, mobile art and research-creation’ (2015), Mimi Sheller posits the question: ‘How can “outcome” capture process?’ I take this quote as my starting point in this article but, losing the ‘how’, I ask the different question: ‘Can outcome capture process?’ This question is important for students taking or contemplating taking a Ph.D. by arts practice and their supervisors and assessors, as the answer might be ‘yes’ for a traditional Ph.D. by thesis, but ‘no’ for practice as research (PaR). I argue that in PaR knowledge production is to be found in the process, rather than in the end result of making, and that knowledge production might therefore be more readily demonstrated in PaR without recourse to explanatory written texts, if Ph.D. assessment considered process equally with or, in some cases, instead of outcome. I also argue that the repetitive, physically arduous and often time-consuming nature of many animation processes amplify the relevance of this question for those involved or interested in animation PaR. In addition to ‘practice as research’ there are many other titles in circulation, such as ‘creative arts research’, ‘performance research’ and ‘research creation’. The differences are not merely nominal but can indicate theoretical differences, for instance, Candy and Edmonds adopt the term ‘practice based’, arguing that the term ‘practice as research’ ‘unhelpfully conflates the two’. I have adopted Robin Nelson’s abbreviation, PaR, for brevity in this document.
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Capoeira: An exploration of animism and the representation of the spirit through ethnographic animation
By Mary MartinsThis study investigates the relationships between ethnographic study and animation practice, focusing on the Brazilian martial art, capoeira, often referred to as a dance, fight and game. This approach was adopted to explore the ways animation can be placed in relation to both historical and more recent critical theory. A local capoeira community group based in South East London participated in the study for a period of twelve months. The respondents were a combination of teachers and learners, and semi-structured interviews in the form of a conversational style were conducted with several participants. The Capoeira music was composed remotely in collaboration with a capoeira practitioner and a professional berimbau instrumentalist, based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Additional music was recorded in a studio in London by main subject of this study, Professor Saruê. Practice-based investigations are currently in development, consisting of footage recorded on 16 mm black-and-white negative film. Direct animation and scratch film were created using 16 mm black leader and 35 mm film, forming a series of animated experiments. The ethnographic methods later revealed a strong connection between capoeira and the Brazilian religion of Candomblé, and attempts to determine how animation can be used to represent the phenomenon of the spirit. Evaluation and reflection of animation practice revealed a strong relationship between ethnography and animation, a relatively new area with promising developments and scope for further research within visual anthropology. Further research is needed to identify other factors that could strengthen the effectiveness of this methodology. The practice-based components of the overall study revealed the potential for in depth fieldwork, overseas travel and longitudinal study spanning the space of one to two years. This would expand a relatively small yet emerging area of academic research.
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Cultural roots and nostalgia: Exploring cultural identity and sense of belonging through animation practice
Authors: Eleonora Asparuhova and Marianne PateraAnimation, both as an art form and a storytelling medium, offers a variety of creative avenues for self-expression. The animator’s cultural background, depending on the individual, can have a strong influence on their practice, which can be elicited from their stylistic choices as well as their approach to storytelling and technique. This article discusses how an autoethnographic reflection into animation practice, in particular the early stage of idea formation, has uncovered questions about cultural identity and sense of belonging when living abroad. It explores the role of nostalgia in the creative process and questions whether the feeling of homesickness can influence ideas and act as a spur to create work inspired by the animator’s culture and heritage. The article discusses three short animations produced by the lead author and the thought process that led to the decision to base them on Bulgarian folklore, music and literature while living in the United Kingdom.
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Astro-animation: A case study of art and science education
Authors: Laurence Arcadias, Robin H. D. Corbet, Declan McKenna and Isabella PotenzianiArt and science are different ways of exploring the world, but together they have the potential to be thought-provoking, facilitate a science–society dialogue, raise public awareness of science and develop an understanding of art. For several years, we have been teaching an astro-animation class at the Maryland Institute College of Art as a collaboration between students and NASA scientists. Working in small groups, the students create short animations based on the research of the scientists who are going to follow the projects as mentors. By creating these animations, students bring the power of their imagination to see the research of the scientists through a different lens. Astro-animation is an undergraduate-level course jointly taught by an astrophysicist and an animator. In this article, we present the motivation behind the class, describe the details of how it is carried out and discuss the interactions between artists and scientists. We describe how such a programme offers an effective way for art students, not only to learn about science but to have a glimpse of ‘science in action’. The students have the opportunity to become involved in the process of science as artists, as observers first and potentially through their own art research. Every year, one or more internships at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center have been available for our students in the summer. Two students describe their experiences undertaking these internships and how science affects their creation of animations for this programme and in general. We also explain the genesis of our astro-animation programme, how it is taught in our animation department and we present the highlights of an investigation of the effectiveness of this programme we carried out with the support of an NEA research grant. In conclusion, we discuss how the programme may grow in new directions, such as contributing to informal STE(A)M learning.
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It is all fun and games: Using gamification and serious gaming to bridge the practice–theory gap in a creative industries school
Authors: Stéphane Collignon and Thibaut SanaThe Department of Digital Creative Industries of the Haute École Albert Jaquard in Belgium is officially designated as a technical school, as opposed to, for instance, an art school or a university. As such, the type of student attracted to the school generally fit the style of teaching offered, in that they tend to show a low interest in theory and are mostly eager to acquire practical skills. In recent years, two pedagogical experiments have been conducted to try and bridge that practice vs. theory gap. One with first-year students to try and raise their motivation towards learning art history, the other with fourth-year video games specialization students, trying to introduce reflexive practices in their skills and intuitional approach, which at this point in their course is strongly ingrained. In both cases, the use of either gamification or serious gaming helped the students access knowledge to which they were usually initially reticent.
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Doozy deconstructed: Paul Lynde’s voicing of Hanna Barbera’s animated villains
More Less‘Doozy deconstructed’ documents the research and animation production processes of artist-filmmaker Richard Squires’s debut feature Doozy. Part creative documentary, part essay film, the work utilizes a number of distinct techniques to interrogate the voice casting of American actor Paul Lynde as a series of Hanna Barbera villains in the late 1960s: an animated anti-hero Clovis – designed by Squires and animated by Elroy Simmons – who re-enacts alleged episodes in the life of the actor; a curious game show featuring specialist opinions from the worlds of animation, neurology, history and criminology; archival and documentary materials that reveal Lynde’s real-life circumstance. ‘Doozy deconstructed’ considers how sexuality is coded and performed by animated characters; Hollywood’s legacy of queer-coded villainy; the relationship between the actor’s real-life circumstance and his animated roles; Hanna Barbera’s motivations in casting the closeted actor and the experimental strategies Doozy employs to disseminate this research.
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Batman’s theories and attitudes: ‘Re-positioning’ practice as research
By Paul WellsThis article addresses ‘practice as research’ in animation, arguing that practictioners often find it problematic to ‘theorize’ and write about their work in conventional academic language and contexts, and that new strategies are required to enable practitioners to undertake this task. Using Batman: The Animated Series as a touchstone, the discussion suggests that new ‘languages’ should evolve from within practice, drawing upon ‘poli-vocal’ and ‘multi-register’ models of inclusive views and concepts, the definition of ‘micro-narratives’, and working as part of transdisciplinary applications.
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Practice as research in animation: A provisional engagement
By Robin NelsonLet me start with a confession. Though for years, I have had an interest in animation and have observed students engaged in puppet, paper and plasticine processes of animation by analogue and digital means, I have myself never constructed an animated sequence. Why, then, have I been invited to write a contribution to this collection? For philosophical and political reasons related to a lifelong engagement with arts and screen media practices and education, I have developed expertise in what some call artistic research and I prefer to call practice as research (PaR). In particular, I have developed an epistemological model for PaR, which sets three modes of knowing – know-how, know-what and know-that – in dynamic inter-relation. In what follows, I place my specialist terms in italics to mark them out.
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Walking from physical to digital within Deep Waters
More LessThis article looks at how Deep Waters, a commissioned site-specific installation for three screens, animation and sound, was shaped by the 2020 travel restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Rather than drawing a halt, the work brought forth a Practice as Research (PaR) methodology enmeshed in technologies of virtual reality (VR) but extending outside of the VR headset for its exhibition. The processes and subsequent documentation of Deep Waters are explored here through Vilém Flusser’s concept of the ‘apparatus’, while asking the questions: how can an animation practice evade pandemic restrictions through moving in-between multiple screens, frames and windows? What may the documentation of an ephemeral praxis reveal, beyond acting as evidence that the work took place?
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