Cookie Monster

Stop Motion Animation - A First Attempt

After deciding to use stop motion animation to create my final piece on the topic of 'Mirrors', I wanted to begin experimenting with the technique as it is not something I am familiar with. So, I decided to make a short, stop animation video of a cookie being devoured by an invisible entity. And here is the fruit of my labour...

The process was a gruelling one, taking up more than two hours of solid work, but one that I enjoyed nonetheless. Although this is not the best piece of work I have ever made, I think it is a good first attempt.

There are many changes that I would make when doing stop motion animation again, beginning with the use of a tripod. One of the most difficult problems I encountered during the process was keeping a steady frame throughout the film. Working solo without a tripod meant that the position of the camera changed with ever photograph taken, forcing me to create a makeshift stand to place it on, which did not prove very efficient. Another thing that I disliked about the video is how the frame gets progressively disheveled as the crumbs of the cookie accumulate, making it look less clean. I have thus learnt that the surroundings, despite not being the focus of the video, are just as important as the object itself.

Stop motion animation is definitely something I would like to explore more and develop my skills in as I have found it to be a diverse and effective medium. Despite being laborious, and at times even excruciating, I think I will love the challenge of excelling in this field.

"One man's trash is another man's treasure"

One Day Project - Balance

This project required us to create sculptures made from random, everyday objects found around the classroom as well as the local area, using balance as the central idea. What began as an experiment; an impromptu assembly of mismatched objects, soon transformed into a piece that dealt with the idea of balance in both a physical and conceptual manner. 

The balancing of the mannequin leg on that of the revolving chair symbolised our growing reliability on machinery and technology, making us physically dependant on it. The jute string that envelopes the plastic of the chair, essentially tying the mannequin and chair together, adds another element to the sculpture; one that is more organic and natural, perhaps implying how the technology has become like a second skin. 

One aspect of the sculpture that does not quite benefit the concept is the hoover leg that surrounds the base of the chair. It does not display an extraordinary level of balancing skills and does little to support the idea of the symbiotic relationship between humans and technology. To an extent, it could be argued to resemble shackles that surround the 'android' leg, signifying the limited nature of the support that technology can provide us.    

Ultimately, I found this project both enjoyable and enlightening as I had never worked in this way before, acting on instinct and spontaneity rather than a predetermined plan as well as using random objects, mostly those that had been discarded. There is a certain charm and romanticism in putting unloved objects to use, creating new life out of the old. As the saying goes, 'one man's trash is another man's treasure.'