Primitive 1

The Principal aim of the project considers space as material and posits process as method for revealing material. The research represents an investigation into the study of ‘space’ within the production and presentation of 3-D CGI animation and aims to build upon and expand its implied associated visual language, and to investigate our perception of 3-D CGI, our understanding of it as a medium and our expectation of its application. The work asks whether the conceptualization and presentation of space can be deemed as fundamental to the language of three-dimensional computer-generated animation, and defined as material? Within the boundaries of 3-D CGI animation is it possible to establish a set of properties that defines space as a material and its ability to provide a unique form of communication? This project is informed by dialogues concerning the digital e.g. texts such as ‘Digital Materialism’ by van den Boomen, Lammes, Lehmann, Raessens and Schäfer. It also draws upon artists/filmmakers/animators working within this medium who explore the nature of 3-D CGI space such as O’Reilly, Payne, and Fleisch. The principal mechanism for addressing these concerns has been a combination of practical and theoretical research. The theoretical framework for the project has been developed from structural/materialist filmmaking and a reworking of three imperatives: an anti-narrative, anti-illusionist approach to filmmaking; the documenting/recording of process to instigate a definition of material; the presentation of process in an attempt to suppress meaning and to deny the viewer a sense of illusionistic space within the frame of the work. The work generates interesting dialogues on the function and form of 3-D CGI, its position as a process for animation and medium for communication. Feedback from the exhibitions/artist talks acknowledges that the approach and application of this research has engendered a greater understanding or awareness of the processes and potentialities of 3-D CGI as a medium, as well as generally supporting the hypothesis, space as material.