Bradford Animation Festival:Aardman Peter Lord

Before this talk, I did not know the name Aardman but I have watched so much Aardman's stop motion animation such as Wallace & Gromit and Chicken Run etc. When the talk started, Peter Lord was humours and interestingly introduced the beginning of Aardman and how hard he and his teammates worked to gain reputation.

 He introduced Morph the animation which I have never heard of (apparently very famous) and it was their first successful stop-motion animation that turned into TV episodes. The character is simple and lack of characteristic when I first saw it and I soon noticed that free transformation and flexible is its best attracting point. Morph cooperates with real objects and introduces story creatively, this is very inspiring and traditional. 

At the beginning, all of their animations are clay motion but computer generated effects and animations are introduced in the animation when the technology improves with the time. I could notice the clay surface is smoother year by year which might be the improved of modelling techniques or the involve of computer programme. The production of Aardman's animation has improved in modelling techniques, filming equipments, props and backgrounds since the raise of its company. It is interesting to compare their early work and the animation they produce now and how they adapt the technology, naturally blend into their original animation.

I noticed that there are so many important elements are needed to be a good animator such as good communication and technical skills, creative thinking, team sprite and enthusiasm which I could see all these in Peter Lord through his speech. He is very lucky as well to start off as a successful animation company and his persistent on producing stop-motion animation gains a lot respects and admire which I think is the best attitude to have.

Anamorphic Painting by Thomas Medicus

Thomas Medicus created the work 'Emulsifier', a rotating glass sculpture that contains four hidden anamorphic paintings. The piece is built from 160 glass strips that are hand-painted on four sides with complimentary images. Only when the object is rotated and viewed from the right angle the images appear. In the video below you can see how it works.

This amazing art work requires careful estimation of space and extreme patient, the transition is almost looks as if it was computer generated. I have never thought about producing anything like this before. This could be classified into both fine art and animation which could be enjoyed in different perspective and layers. 

Close up is another way to enjoy this artwork, the details of the glass painting and the colours are very elaborated that I could look at it all day. I always want to achieve an animation in fine art style which crafting and painting are included therefore this is an inspiring approach that I might want to try out in the future.

Shiro Neko Project

I have been playing a mobile phone game called Shiro Neko Project for half a year and It is an very unique Japanese game that I have never experienced before.

Shiro Neko has a very interesting battle system which is using a finger to control the characters. ''Using one finger to change the world'' is the marketing slogan which is very innovative. Speaking of battles, up to 4 users can fight together simultaneously. “One finger” in this case means that characters can be moved from A to B by dragging one’s finger over the screen, while enemies can be fought by tapping on the screen. Skill-based attacks can be pulled off with only one finger as well.

The character, battle scene, graphics and other art-based elements are so well designed in the game. It allows the player to experience different occupations through out the whole game unlike normal RPG games which players could only choose one character or occupation through the game. However, the only way to get strong characters is through the jewel lucky slot system which is very luck-based gamble and this is how the company gains money from the players.

Here is the official Shiro Neko Project trailer:

Cor Jaring exhibition in Amsterdam Photography Museum

I went to Amsterdam this Easter and visited the Photography Museum. By the time I arrived there, it was exhibiting Cor Jaring's photography. I have never heard of him before this trip and after we left, I was absolutely fall in love with his work and fascinated by his life. We are not allow any photos there so only two sneaky photos I managed to take.

Cor Jaring (1936–2013) was a remarkable character who began working as a professional photographer in the 1950s. He came from humble origins and had started out as a dockworker. Between his working hours he started to photograph the marginal areas in which he moved, with friends, fellow dockers, gaugers and ironworkers as his subjects. He also used his kiekkassie, or ‘snapbox’, as he called his camera, to record mass redundancies and the cold-hearted automation of harbour work. Cor was one of those working men, and made his name as a photographer only later. 

He-She at work 1966
Cor Jaring, Amsterdam City Archives

It was the time which he moved to Japan to seek for job opportunities. He meet this man who dressed up as a female and worked in club house. There were an exhibition room showing a lot of by-sexual workers and the secret behind them. I could see Cor was amazed by this as this was such an unusual thing to see and to be accepted at that time. The photographs are honest and show a lot of reality which let the audience to experience his life.

Janus ‘The Polisher’ in café Hans en Grietje 1958
Cor Jaring, Amsterdam City Archives

In the Oosterkerk, Amsterdam 2012

Sander Troelstra

Sander Troelstra is Cor's student and took a series of photos of him in 2012. His work was also displayed in the exhibition along side with Cor's photograph. This is Cor Jaring's back and I really like this picture. There are so many story in this man's life and this photo has tried to show them. After the trip, I have learnt that a good photo is no need to describe and can tell the story also to photograph the truth and the feel of the moment. 

Minecraft experience

My boyfriend is addicted to minecraft and so that I was persuaded to have a try playing it. Last Saturday was the first time for me to experience the 'magic' of minecraft and can finally figure out why it hypnotises the public. It is generally a good developed game made out of pixel squares. Players could enlarge their creativity to the climax as nearly everything could be constructed with a single box.

Other than using my creativity, I was first attracted by these pixel animals. They are really cute and very cleverly designed that players could recognise their species even they are pixelated. Additionally, the complex formulas of making tools at the crafting table are confusing even though they could be barely guessed according to the tools' shapes and materials.

I am not good at playing first-person 3D game that I feel dizzy and sick after awhile so I have only played for an hour. Overall, I appreciate the platform Minecraft provides for 'artists' and to spend time when bored. However I really not recommend this game to people who feel dizzy when looking at 3D games as you probably need to spend a lot of time in this game. 

HKBU (Academy of Visual Art)AVA Graduation Show 2014: Extension

The Academy of Visual Arts of Hong Kong Baptist University aims at educating independent and creative individuals, they are one of the best art school in Hong Kong. I went to this graduation show when I was back in Hong Kong in 2014

The exhibition is located in an underground shopping mall inside the MTR stations (tube in HK) so I did not plan to visit this exhibition but was making my way along the passageways between MTR stations. This is a very clever method to increase diverse audiences for their diverse range of exhibition.

He/She is

Markers on canvas

10cmx10cm (250pcs)

CHANG Tsz Hin

The first art work that caught my eye were these heads on canvas. When I walked closer to the canvas, I see a lot of familiar faces of celebrities and TV characters, drawn in animated style with some famous slogans or lines they have said. This is very enjoyable to find out how many faces I could recognise and bring up memories of these characters.  

Appearances help recognise the identities of person due to their unique facial features. In facts, it is undependable and indefinite, as identities change in different situations. There is a time when we encounter a person , who gives us a sense of familiarity, yet we are unable to recap his or her identity.

This art work allowed me an opportunity to experience the feeling of familiarity and to amaze the memorial ability of human's brain. I really like this concept which is very locally created and 'only Hong Kong people will understand'. This raises my sense of belonging in my own country and treasure our shared-memory and experience. I hope to create art-work like him that can communicate with audience efficiently. If I want to achieve the similar effect in the England, I need to come up with some international elements that nearly everyone because I did not spend my childhood in this country and lack of common experience.