One eye sees, the other feels.” Paul Klee. ..
You can tell I’ve been spending time in the Barbican in London when I start a post with a slightly pretentious art quote!
Inspiration is a crucial part of how we work as a studio; we regularly meet to discuss the work of our peers at our ‘round table’ sessions. We also run the Motion North night in Manchester where we learn how other animators and designers work. For the last two years we’ve headed to events, in the Uk and Europe, to see the great and the good of our industry.
This year we headed to Rotterdam for Playgrounds In Motion. Having loved the scale of OFFF in 2023 it was great to try something with a very different vibe. Both have their place in the rapidly growing eco-system in this community.
What we loved about Playgrounds was the surprise comedy and performance elements. Illustrators finishing a talk with a dance, presentations with robots and people in bodysuits. Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty of serious content too, but it’s good to break up the pace with these moments. And having spoken to the organizers, these moments are cleverly planned.
The lack of AI doom was also refreshing. Any mention of it centered on its use as a tool, another marker to play with, rather than something that will suck the life out of our world, as Linkedin would have you believe. It further confirms my theories about who is pushing this agenda.
With so many amazing illustrators and animators on show, it was clear to me how much creativity starts with the pencil. Which is refreshing in a world of tech and generated wizardry.
Having been fortunate enough to attend in London as well it was interesting to compare how the two events would differ. Rotterdam felt very European, and more underground. Housed in a huge brutalist structure by the docks if felt like you’d been let into a secret event. The UK event was bigger, at 2 or 3 times the scale. Its home, The Barbican is a warren, and the scale was impressive, but it felt less of a party and more ‘arts festival’.