Artist Statement: "I Saw You"

Here is my first artist statement attempt for the BFA Terminal Project.


Moonstrider, Portrait Man, The Hunger and Pippy, created prior to this term, are presented as complements to my developing BFA project. Each of the animations showcase different approaches to animation in terms of style, theme, process and execution. The idea of developing a project without the limitation of conforming to a single process, approach or medium preceded the initial conception of my current endeavor.

Dove Parade, and Thanks for all the Snuggle Times, are the first in a series of animated shorts based on public personal ad postings submitted to “I Saw You” and “Missed Connections” forums found in weekly print publications such as The Eugene Weekly and The Portland Mercury, as well as online networking communities such as Craigslist. These forums contain regularly updated short descriptions of sightings and brief encounters which are generally motivated by romantic ambition, missed opportunities, desperation and redemption.

Individual postings generally provide minimal context with which to inform the majority of its readers. They are personal and mostly anonymous, often intended for a specific, limited and unlikely audience, but consumed by a significant portion of the community. Interpreting the postings of these public forums, and translating them into a series of short animated segments, offers an opportunity to engage the peculiarities that modern communication, community and culture provide. Independently, the animations should function as brief, awkward, incidental encounters, but collectively they may provide a broader impression of human relationships and personalities.

My approach to the project entails a loose and open-ended conceptual structure. However, a procedural strategy has begun to emerge that adopts a more subjective approach. For example, every animated posting will be interpreted and executed using different criteria, methods, style, approaches etc. Some will be dealt with using stop motion, others vector, silhouettes, retro computer graphics, or hand drawn, with the possibility of video, print and other mediums. The criteria for developing each animation will directly reflect the tone and/or references within the selected postings, and selections will be based on what I find to be most engaging or offer a compelling potential for an animated interpretation. Since this project is founded on cultural and communal communication, the selections for the animated shorts will come from publications local to the Pacific Northwest throughout the course of my BFA year.