Aliments of Peter Pan Syndrome

Aliments of Peter Pan Syndrome – Power Source (2017), tracing paper, graphite, Photoshop, 1 minute 2 seconds

 Aliments of Peter Pan Syndrome – Tapped (2017), tracing paper, graphite, Photoshop, 1 minute 13 seconds

 Aliments of Peter Pan Syndrome – Connected (2017), tracing paper, graphite, Photoshop, 1 minute 17 seconds

 Aliments of Peter Pan Syndrome (2017) consists of three, minute long animations. Featuring what I describe as fantastical succulent interruptions my drawings interrupt the dull mundane of my domestic suburbia interior. This project is an expansion of my previous project from last semester. By inventing Succulent Morphology these works playfully explore Gen Y’s apparent need to escape everyday reality through an obsession of preternatural worlds.

Following on from my previous project, I continue to explore succulent imagery on photographs of my domestic environment that examines my active obsession for escaping into fantastical literature.

These works are designed using Photoshop to digitally manipulate multiple hand-drawn images over black and white photos of my interior. The layers are animated using Adobe Premiere so the succulents slowly grow out and overtake the space in the photo. After they have grown the succulents will then shrivel up and decay so the image returns to the original black and white interior. The animation then loops back to the start and repeats. An important point from my previous project was I was lacking a critical edge to my work, I aim to address that by having the succulents shrivel up and decay, and have it as a metaphor for moments when dark places can consume one’s life. The animated drawings achieve this by having the succulents’ bright colours on a dull black and white background but then erode to rotten colours and vanish completely.

Why succulents. They are a unique species of plant that look so strange but normal at the same time. As a subject, I use them as a small doorway into the fantastical through the mundanity of suburbia world. They are very resilient and hard to kill, they can grow just about anywhere. It’s like my fantasy obsessiveness, no matter how much people tell me fairies, trolls and werewolves aren’t real it won’t kill my love or search for the fantastical. So, for this project I have invented succulent morphology, the study of the succulents’ exteriors. In choosing a botanical form to be the shape of my fantastical interruptions because plants have a rich foundation for fantasy in which they have magical properties. This is seen in many fairy tales such as The Three Snake-Leaves by Brothers Grimm in which the leaves can return the dead to life (Race Point Publishing, 2013). In Norse mythology Yggdrasill is a magnificent tree that connects all nine realms together (Branston, 1978). Even the seeds contain the source for magic, in the Greek myth of Hades and Persephone he tricks his kidnapped bride into eating pomegranate seeds so even when she leaves the Underworld she will always return to him for a short span of the year (Larsen, 2016). This relates to my animations because plants from these mythologies don’t look unnatural, they are familiar and ordinary but have magic rooted in them. This is also achieved through the animation. Watching the succulents grow and decay has a mesmerising and almost magical feel about them that makes them have an otherworldly atmosphere.

My work deals with my need for the fantastical and escaping from the dull and ordinary, of which I do through literature. In constantly seeking out the preternatural, innocent, spiritual and harmonious way in everyday life. This project is a like a metaphor for my desire of fantasy. Over many years fantasy has taken root in my mind, growing and filling out all the space. There are moments in my life where events and circumstances have stifled that growth and withered it down to nothing but it always flourishes back to life, after lying dormant it sprouts and evolves, swelling into something just as big and beautiful as before.

As a Millennial, we are infamous for being very tech. savvy, rejection of traditional rites of passage into adulthood, and dependence on the internet. Author Sally Bibb accurately describes the aspects of Generation Y in her book Generation Y for Rookies (2014) which illustrates the qualities, personality traits, work ethics and circumstances that have shaped how Millennials have become the way they are; including disregard for hierarchy or authority, rejection of competitive conflict solving, perforation to collaboration, exposure to internet and technology, difficultly job finding (because of unwillingness to work the hours or finding a skill-appropriate position), creative and initiative, and more politically disengaged (Bibb, 2014). I agree with many of these claims but feel some are more subjective than others.

Bibb also mentions in her book the experiences that influenced my generation acts of global terrorism, marriages that result in higher rates of divorce and difficulty in saving money for houses and cars (Bibb, 2014). These events have left many Millennials with a longing to stay a child and never grow up or to escape from reality all together, the Peter Pan Generation. I respond to this through art. I have always wanted to escape back into my childhood, back into the fantasy and as far away from reality as possible.

My work, Aliments of Peter Pan Syndrome, is not unlike George Gessert’s practice as it is the study of botanical exteriors (morphology), the appearance of a plant, Snowy Donkey (2004) is an iris he crossbred and grew until it bloomed. If Gessert did not like the appearance of the flower, he would recycle it and start a new hybrid breed. Because I am exploring morphology, the study of the plant’s exterior – the appearance, I am doing what Gessert is doing which is focusing on how the plant looks. We are both also exploring an invented morphology, he created his own by cross breeding his plants and I’ve created my own through my succulents.

The idea for this project was inspired by Tomm Moore, a filmmaker and animator, after watching many his films, particularly Song of the Sea (2014). The beautiful artistic style and animation form encouraged me to pursue the idea of animating the succulents from my previous work. Initially I had planned to have a very flush, digital finish to my animation style, like some of the styles Moore uses. However, after my previous critic it was suggested that this approach wasn’t appropriate for my subject. The time it would have taken to animate in that style would’ve taken far too long and wouldn’t be done in time. Since I had decided to use hand drawn images I had to look at artists who utilised a similar method such as William Kentridge.

My initial plan for presenting was just to project the animations using projectors onto a wall. After looking Diana Thater practice I realised this approach was as dull and boring as my domestic environment. I was intrigued how she used screens and projections in ways I hadn’t even considered, angling them and projecting them onto the wall and ceiling, clustering screens together in an arrangement. After looking at her work I had wanted to wall mount a series of monitors in a cluster formation, like the growth and clustering of succulents, and have the animations play on loop. But after being introduce to these black plinths which were so good I decided to arrange them on the plinths instead, still following the clustered idea.

This project is a continuation of my exploration into escaping reality through fantasy. I have achieved this in my work by creating three, minute animations featuring fantastical interrupting succulents in my domestic suburbia interior. I have aimed to fix the issues identified in my previous project and expand it.

REFERENCE LIST

Bibb, Sally. 2014. Generation Y for Rookies. LID Publishing. ISBN:9780462099804

Race Point Publishing. 2013. “The Three Snake-Leaves” in The Complete Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Page, 60-62. New York, USA.

Branston, Brian. 1978. “Yggdrasill, the World Ash” in Gods & Heroes from Viking Mythology. Page, 31-36. New South Wales, Australia.

Larsen, Kristine. 2016. “The Lessons of Nature in Mythology” in Mythlore. Vol. 34, no. 2, 2016, p. 191+. Expanded Academic ASAP, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=EAIM&sw=w&u=griffith&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA453915650&it=r&asid=4b72e4eea1cfef3007bbe6af0aa15518.

Gessert, George. Snowy Donkey. (2004). Iris seeds, soil, fertiliser, flower pot, water. Dimensions variable.

Critic photos

Photos of my installation

My third animation, finished and rendered.

“Aliments of Peter Pan Syndrome - Connected”

My installation plan for both assessment and grad show. I still don't know which animations will be on which screen. And I won't wrap the extention cord around the doorway for assessment week.

My first ideas for installing my animations. Initially I had wanted to wall mount them (mostly because I had liked the way Diana Thater had wall mounted one of her artworks) and arrange them in a cluster. Similar to how succulents grow. I had also thought about using three monitors the same size and arranging them in a triangle, so all their sides were touching and people could walk around them.

My second animation, finished and rendered.

“Aliments of Peter Pan Syndrome - Tapped”

My first animation, finished and rendered.

“Aliments of Peter Pan Syndrome - Power Source”

Progress of animation (haven’t finished adding colour) - the size of the video isn’t correct as I had to quickly export the video to show progress in my tutorial.

Drawings for scanned images 41-45

Drawings for scanned images 31-40

Drawings for scanned images 21-30

Drawings for scanned images 11-20

Drawings for scanned images 1-10.

Initally I had planned to use coloured pencils to draw the images. However, I think this will take longer and be more stressful. My new plan is to draw the images with graphite, which will be easier to erase, and then add colour in photoshop.

The top row are some experiments on different surfaces with different materials: graphite, gauche, soft pastel, acrylic paint, coloured pencil and ink. The first image is 120 GSM tracing paper, all the materials worked well although the water based materials did buckle the paper a bit. The second image, 210 GSM paper, was the same with minior buckling from the water based materials. The third image was an acetate sheet, the graphite, pastel and pencil only left small scratch marks but the water based materials worked well although scanning it left a faint shadow which I didn’t really like.

The middle row was taking these experiments and seeing how to use them over the photos. Previous in my rough gif I was able to change the scans to “Mutlitply” which removed all the white leaving left the pencil marks and shadows. As seen in the second row images this will not work, the drawings are barely visible and don’t look good.

The last row I used the “Select and Mask” tool to select a single drawing from the scans. It succufully removes anything else that is not selected. In the first two images I picked the pencil drawn image because I liked it the most, and in the last image I chose the gauche drawing because it didn’t have as dark a shadow as the others in the scan. I think would be the best method of adding the scanned drawings over the black and white photos.

I did like the drawing paper and spiral bound paper, I don’t think the  acetate sheet is a good way to go even though the water based materials worked well and were easy to manipulate with water. But I’d rather use one of the paper surfaces. Both surfaces rubbed out the materials, the tracing paper was better but I do like the spiral punctures on the other paper. The tracing paper did get more shadow from the scan than the other paper but this could have been to the wrapping from the water based materials.

So I think I will use the tracing paper because it would be easier to reuse and erase the marks.