Growing up in the 80s and early 90s, I spent countless hours watching claymation and other stop motion animation shows. Gumby may have been one of my favorites, and most allowed in my household. I can also recall watching so many holiday-themed shows that incorporated similar techniques within their story telling. Somehow, all of this was forgotten until the onset of this assignment uplifted those fond memories and past friendships that I had once developed with all of those characters in my childhood.
When I teamed up with Veronica and Jasper to create a stop motion project, it was very clear that claymation had to be a center piece for this effort. I had a clearly defined metaphoric story come in where clay was involved and shared it with the group. It evolved though conversation and it was Jasper who came up with the concept of shape shifting to fit in and not fitting in. Very much so a theme here at ITP — we all come in unique, with our own enormously gifted backgrounds, desperately want to connect with others, adjust/conform to do so, then realize that we just need to be ourselves in the end.
The scenery was a full collaboration with a knowing that we wanted to create NYC out of LEDs and other components found in the shop. We new that the Cube needed to be unique in nature and stand out. Orange is such a powerful color that screams creativity; and we wanted to bring that life into the Cube, regardless of his/her/their awareness of self. The Spheres had to be exaggerated and be the same, referencing that this happens with multiple people simultaneously/ all at once/ the same. They bring an essence of mediocrity; but also so much similarity to one another, showing that we are one-in-the same.
This process was so rewarding - from the planning, to the execution, to the final delivery of all the hours that went into the project. I’m very proud of the team’s efforts and story that was told. We really wanted to emphasize that this story took place in ITP — and purposefully we did not include a static background. It needed to be in the middle of the floor; it’s just an isolated occurrence that happens day-in and day-out here, and it felt important to express that.
