
American animator and visual artist Jonathan Monaghan uses computer animation to further develop the bond between moving images and physically existing objects. His artworks are often created by combining 3D prints with noble materials. At PAF, Monaghan will present, in his own screening block Animated Worlds, a selection of videos that create a quite complex mythopoetic world. It is a world derived from the transformations of luxurious spaces, from the modified symbolism connected to animal archetypes and power. Motifs with elements of baroque and rococo ornaments subsequently appear in physically existing objects. Architecture of Fantasy is the title of the presentation in which the author will reveal his inspirational sources and work methods in more detail.
MM I am tempted to label your work as a tension between an animation processes and tangible objects. Have you ever thought about such connection during your process of work?
JM I think the boundary between what is real or tangible and the virtual is increasingly being blurred. I like to play with this and draw attention to it. While I produce physical objects in various materials (gold, marble, plastic), the forms all originate in the computer and are produced using various digital fabrication processes. The prints I make also originate in the computer. So I am using the same virtual space to conceive of prints, physical sculpture and films. I think this highlights the mutability of things in the digital age. There is a fluidity in the imagery and meanings in the work, but also in the medium. Furthermore the work is rendered in a photorealistic quality, which further complicates these boundaries. My entire body of work operates in some liminal place in between all of these spaces.
MM Most of your videos are based on architectural or spatial themes. Do you refer to some specific houses and floor plans?
JM Some of the architectural spaces are derived from magazine advertisements (the luxurious walk-in closet in Escape Pod), some are from specific buildings (the Hotel Monte Carlo in Mothership) and some are idealized versions of ubiquitous commercial spaces (The Duty Free shop in Escape Pod). Every virtual space is planned and meticulously crafted, and while they are all idealized and fantastical, they do have a certain plausible structure in them, which is important to me.
MM Is the visual design of computer games important influence on your work with moving image?
JM Yes, I think of my animated films as somewhere in between a video game and cinema. With Escape Pod, there are no cuts or edits, its a continuous looping camera shot, much like flying through a video game world. I started to be involved in computer graphics at a young age, initially because I wanted to make video games. I began by designing environments for firstperson-shooter games while in high school.
Jonathan Monaghan interviewed by Martin Mazanec
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4 Dec | 5:30 | FA | Jonathan Monaghan (US): Animated Worlds | presentation | Animation beyond Animation
Rainbow Narcosis | 2012 | 8′48
Mothership | 2013 | 14′52Office 2013 | 4′32″
Dauphin 007 | 2011 | 3′11″
French Penguin | 2009 | 2′34″
Alien Fanfare | 2014 | 13′
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5 Dec | 1 pm | T | Jonathan Monaghan (US): Architecture of Fantasy | presentation | Animation beyond Animation
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3–6 Dec 2015 | AG | Jonathan Monaghan (US): Escape Pod | installation | Animation beyond Animation
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3 Dec | 8:30 pm | KPC, AG, K | A Tour Around the Vernissages | PAF Art
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Part of the Festivals of Live Cinema project activities.