ARTIST STATEMENT
This short film focused on an abstracted animation of myself blinking. Combined with the unsettling audio, a
deliberately uncomfortable viewing experience is created. As the title suggests, the face is trapped behind a layer of black bars, yet it
depends on this prison to transition from a lifeless, static image to living, breathing animation. This interesting illusion acts as
a metaphor for my relationship with colour-blindness – how it constricts my view of the world around me, yet it also defines
parts of my individuality and connects me to my family as both my brother and grandfather are colour-blind.
ARTWORK PROCESS
Rufus Butler Seder’s‘scanimations’ creates an illusion turning static images into animations by moving a layer of black lines superimposed over it. Inspired by the pair of eyes in a previous work, I digitally-manipulated a 12-frame video of myself blinking –representing how colour-blindness defines a part of my identity yet also constricts my perspective.
For the illusion to work, a ‘scanimation’ must be short,simple and two-coloured. These limitations were resolved using photoshop to filter my short video into a low-frame rate, low-detail black and white animation. Combining sound, repetitive movement and unsettling imagery creates a feeling of unease.
