Get ready for October's Animation Pie!

natural animation inspired by Andy Goldsworthy

I recently went to the brilliant exhibition by Andy Goldsworthy at the National Gallery in Edinburgh and I thought it would be fun to take inspiration from his work for this month’s Animation Pie. So for the next session we’re going to animate in response to the changing seasons around us and use natural materials.

The next session will be Wed 29th Oct at 7pm UK time. ZOOM LINK BELOW…

I think this exhibition is probably in my top ten, ever. Simple yet breathtaking, thought provoking and important. I remember seeing his giant snowballs in Glasgow Tramway gallery as a teenager. Here is some of Goldsworthy’s work at the current exhibition (closes soon!) which explores our relationship with the land:

In Scotland it’s deepest autumn right now, leaves are dropping and the tracks are a delicious palette of reds, browns and yellows. If you are not near the countryside or if it’s a different season for you, your colours and objects might be different… but as Goldsworthy says, “Nature for me isn’t just outside the city, it’s everywhere.” Look around you and hopefully you will find some natural objects in or near your home that you can make move! Sticks, pebbles, leaves, flowers, shells, seeds… all would be fine.

I’ve been playing around with leaves that I picked up. Here are a couple of the quick, animation ‘sketches’ I made today (I think of these as sketchbook work - loose ideas, very imperfect experiments that might get developed):

“At its very heart it’s about understanding the world around me. Once you make things and work with the land you start to learn about it and your relationship with it. Nature for me isn’t just outside the city, it’s everywhere. It’s such a powerful thing nature. And to have an art that actually opens your eyes and mind to what’s there, shows me what’s there, is quite amazing. Instead of art being this means of expressing yourself, it’s been a way of understanding.” - Goldsworthy.

Here is an interesting video about preparations for the exhibition:

So what will you need for the next Animation Pie session?