Introduction of any other element such as images or words inevitably brings in layers of additional meaning. While there was a need for a certain degree of context, sufficient to create what Bebe referred to as “storyness”, there was also a strong desire to stay at a universal level. The balance between archetypal and contextual often became a challenge, especially with such heavily “made” elements as spoken word and animation imagery. It was also the case with video and sound, but these media seemed to benefit a bit more from the art practices of “found” object and sound as well as phenomenology, which are very familiar and accepted in the experiences of these media. The viewer has easier time shifting focus towards quality of the object when it is undeniably real, perhaps spontaneously caught on video. It takes a lot more to create such spontaneity in the presentation of an animated object.
Photorealism of 3d computer animation could certainly be a solution. Going this route seems a redundant in collaboration that includes strong video presence. In the context of rapid brain storming during residencies it is simply impossible. Developing animation ideas between residencies, when they can only be experienced in isolation from other elements, does not give a good sense of whether the time spent crafting the looks is worthwhile for something that will not become part of the show.
On the other hand the tradition of storyboarding and animatics that is essential in animation production did not work so well during the two collaborations with Bebe. I think that the focus on the nuance qualities, and especially subtle changes occurring over time is a very hard thing to pursue in a format dedicated to blocking out a story… and yet they are the focus of improvisation and performance art, particularly Bebe’s.
So what emerged in place of this practice were short animation clips, visual sketches of production quality focused on creating a minimally acceptable level of believability. By the standards of 3d computer animation they are closer to a 3d animatic then a finished film. Working in this format I often pondered what it means to "look good" vs "look right".
In the context of the entire performance the visuals turned out somewhat as a parallel conceptual line, occasionally converging with the dance and text, creating opportunity for necessary beauty or synergy to be experienced in juxtapositions of meaning or performance and projected spaces.