From the big film screen to the small computer screen, the past ten years have seen a boom in animation- both in the film world and the fine art world, (not to mention the DIY craft world). While we know the list could go on, check out the slideshow below for a compilation of few of our favorite, innovative animations from the past 10 years. What are some of your favorite animations?
Don Hertzfeldt is the creator of many short animated films, including Rejected, nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 2000. You may recognize some lines from these shorts, as they've gained a cult following over the years. Short, quirky, and hilarious, these shorts definitely paved the way for the many youtube and pop culture animations.
The Triplets of Belleville (2003), directed by Sylvain Chomet, is one of our favorite animations of the decade. This nearly silent film manages to paint a touching and unique story without the use of much dialogue; the story is told through pantomime and song. Talk about innovation. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards — Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song for "Belleville Rendez-vous". It was also screened out of competition (hors concours) at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival.
South African artist Robin Rhode works predominantly with everyday materials: charcoal, chalk and paint, creating performances in which he interacts with the objects he creates. Imagine a chalk drawing of a basket ball court that he then animates, photographing his own body in action on this two dimensional court. Rhode combines traditional visuals, performance, video and photography. One part street artist, one part animator, Rhode is definitely an innovator.
Stop motion-animated short film, Madame Tutli Putli, (2007) took Montreal filmmakers Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski 5 years to make. And the hard work shows. Portrait artist Jason Walker created the technique of adding composited human eyes to the stop motion puppets, allowing the emotions in this short film to come to life. To make their short, the filmmakers traveled along Lake Superior, Canada, living on the train for two weeks collecting stories for inspiration. In 2007 Madame Tutli Putli was nominated in for an Academy Award for best stop motion-animated short film.
It's not often that documentary styles are combined with animation for feature length film; Israeli film director, Ari Folman's takes this challenge with his notableWaltz with Bashir (2008). For this film, Folman filmed standard interviews, and mixed them with his own surreal visions and dreams of his experiences in the Lebanon War as a 19 year old soldier. The result is a deep exploration of the aftermath of war.
With her recent work at Art Basel Miami and the Venice Biennial, Swedish video artist, Nathalie Djurberg, shows that her stop motion claymations are not as innocent as they seem, but rather, studies in human behavior, exploring nightmares, fears, and desires, uncensored. Her short films are fantastical and dark; her use of claymation adds irony to her graphic and erotic films.
