Experimental Abstract Animation

Abstract animation is a considered form of motion graphics. As animator Jules Engel commented, it is art in motion as well as the art of motion. From ‘absolute’ or animation of pure visual elements to the latest 3D techniques, the films produced by the visionary artists included in these exhibitions have changed forever the way we conceive and contemplate animation. Experimental abstract animation is increasingly recognized as an integral part of art history as well, as many pioneering animators have been associated with major movements in the visual arts of the 20th and 21st centuries. They explored musical ideas, inner feelings, memories, thoughts, dreams, perceptual phenomena, spiritual states, poetics, philosophical concepts, mathematical constructions, architectural forms and structures, as well as natural realities not normally seen in our daily lives through the extension of our vision via technologies.

The program “Made in Germany” celebrates the many pioneering animators who worked in Germany from the very beginning of animation in the early 1900s up to today. These works are anticipatory, enigmatic and iconic, and serve as inspired, key references for understanding and appreciating this growing field.

The second program ”International I”http://www.itfs.de/en/home/festival/supporting-programme/night-of-comics-and-characters/international-i/ features works by international artists that span the early to late 20th century. They embrace alternative ideas and experimental approaches drawn from diverse communities and cultures, including their visual and performing arts traditions. Dance and music are common themes, and concepts such as chance, complexity, freedom and order are incorporated in vibrant and inventive ways using a range of physical, electronic and digital media.

“International II”, the third program, presents works by international artists that traverse the increasingly imaginative, active, and technologically sophisticated period from the late 20th century to the present.

Vibeke Sørensen, Kuratorin curator