Objects and Flipbooks
‍MO_Space AFP 2019

An object on a table or shelf has reached the stasis its maker destined it for. But the movement never ends, for some artists. The process was just arrested—by a subjective decision or even a deadline. My guess is that’s why variations on a theme or multiples get made. An artist is the image of a moving image. His objects just mark where the tumult has taken a breather. To generate an actual moving image though, he only needs to turn to film or digital video technology. 

Or he can make a Flipbook.

The humble Flipbook is one of the simplest mediums for breathing life into images. It is probably the most direct and tactile way of transforming still images into living vignettes of movement. It is patently low-tech, even no-tech. 

The feel of paper, the gentle whirring sound, and the miniature breeze generated make flipping a Flipbook a uniquely simple pleasure. This activity, commonly reserved for school children, hobbyists, and students of animation can be a viable medium for the ‘serious’ contemporary artist. The “Do Not Touch the Artwork” sign will certainly not apply.

A moment of movement through one’s fingers can be powerful on a very personal level, story or no story, abstract or not so abstract, pointed or pointless, drawn or undrawn; most certainly, not static.

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See the Flipping Out exhibition here.