Dr. Rainer Schulte, Director of the Center for Translation Studies, conceived the project as a multidisciplinary collaboration featuring new poetic visions for Arthur Rimbaud’s sonnet “Voyelles,” written in 1871.
The collaborative project gathered choreography, animation, music, and poetry to demonstrate the poem’s different poetic translations and visual interpretations. According to Dr. Schulte, “Rimbaud revolutionized the forms of poetic expressions. A strange title for a poem: Voyelles. The title does not suggest a topic or a subject. Words are made of vowels. Rimbaud goes to the beginning of language. The power resides in the vowels and letters that the poem is made Vowels are signs and sounds that build a word. Rimbaud wants to live with each individual vowel since the vowels open new vistas of how to enter the poem and live inside the walls of the poem.”
Dr. Christine Veras created the animations for the project in the Experimental Animation Lab. For her, this collaboration “extends my research into a sensorial collaboration using poetry, sound, dance, and animation. In exploring these bridges between technology, performance, and materiality, I continue my creative investigation as visual and sensory translations. This process of creative research through experimentation encourages and facilitates the recombination of old, new, and still emerging technologies. Such connections are only possible by knowing the past and understanding the applications and implications of animation’s more experimental and material processes. The results of such possibilities invite viewers to experience animation beyond traditional narrative formats.” See below a few behind-the-scenes images of the animation:
The project will be screened at the Open House event at the School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology on October 7, 2022. It features the choreography of Michelle Hanlon, sound effects by Kevin Hanlon, editing by Cathrin Yoder, animation by Christine Veras with assistance from Philip Martin, narration by Kathy Lingo, and coordination by Rainer Schulte.
The project will Premiere on October 20, 2022, at the ATC Gallery space at 5 pm.
Impressions after the event “Conversations About the Use of AI in Art Practice” April 15, 2022 1 to 2:30 pm Online
Written by Gizem Oktay
experimenta.l. Automata, coined after the collaboration between two research labs of ATEC, experimenta.l. and Creative Automata, had its first public event on using AI-based techniques in art practice. The event took place on April 15, 2022, and brought together a diverse set of presenters and participants in a lively discussion about state-of-the-art AI tools and how they are utilized in artistic spaces.
Slide from Marcelo Rocha’s presentation
The group of presenters was comprised of four students, along with the directors of the research labs, Drs. Paul Fishwick and Christine Veras. The first to present was Marcelo Rocha, an undergraduate student with a major in Animation, with the presentation titled “Automated Motion Paintings and Animation Using Ebsynth.” The program introduced in his presentation is an interface used to style transfer a static image onto a moving image. Marcelo showed examples from his Capstone animation project, “A Decree From the Stars,” with captivating examples of how Ebsynth was used to style transfer.
Ebsynth was also a part of the workshops given by the research assistant Gizem Oktay, which showed students at the Experimental Animation Lab how to use both AI-based and non-AI-based tools. These included Ebsynth and RunwayML, an interface that allows its users to train neural networks without needing coding knowledge. More information about these workshops can be found here.
Slide from Nathan Shoeck’s presentation
The second presentation, titled “AI’s Perception in Art,” was done by Nathan Schoeck, a first-year Applied Cognition & Neuroscience MS student whose topic was a deep dive into two models — CLIP and VQGAN— that he used for his artworks. By comparing the way human memory works to that of a network, Nathan drew connective lines between the workings of these two ‘prediction machines’, namely the human brain and the neural network.
Still from Jiatong Yao’s presentation
The third presentation of the event, titled “NeRFs Driven Art Practice”, was done by Jiatong (Tong) Yao, a first-year Computer Science MS student. Tong’s topic was on one of the latest neural network models, Neural Radiance Field (NeRF), which can create 3D objects based on a given text prompt. Through the narrative of what the model provided for her art practice, Tong described how the model works, along with other possibilities in the realm of 3D-object-based generation and how they can be used in real-time with body tracking technologies.
Still from Gizem Oktay’s presentation
The last presentation was done by Gizem Oktay, research assistant of Dr. Veras and a part of the experimenta.l. Automata collaboration since its beginning. Inspired by her year-long research project titled Corporeal Crossings, Gizem’s presentation focused on using two neural network models, a text-to-image operator called CLIP and a style transfer model called StyleGAN2. The models were used to create hybrid bodies composed of human and animal parts. Gizem’s presentation included still images and animations made with these models and interactive examples of how the visual outputs of models could be activated by audience participation.
After the presentations, participants were invited to join the discussion, ask questions, and consider possible future steps towards such conversations, processes, and future collaborations. We had a lively discussion about the philosophy of AI, how the neural network interprets abstract concepts like metaphor and perception, and what the models can provide the artists with in terms of affordances. Among the questions was whether the neural network was operating from an emotive place like humans do, which included responses from all student presenters regarding how they approached the agency of AI in the work they presented. Another topic touched upon was the issue of algorithmic bias and how artists can aid in the process of creating ethical and inclusive algorithms.
With over thirty participants, including academics from multiple disciplines, practitioners, and artists, “Conversations About the Use of AI in Art Practice” opened up a space for dialogue on how the use of artificial intelligence is in exchange with the artistic practice, questioning the role of human and the ever-increasing role of “intelligent” tools in the creative process, as well as our role in the process. The team of experimenta.l. Automata is excited to invite interested students and faculty in UT Dallas and beyond to make the area of AI Art more inclusive.
We thank everyone who took the time to attend the event, and we hope to have more such initiatives and conversations in the future.
Guido Devadder is an experimental animator from Belgium. He holds a MA in Literature (KU Leuven) and Visual Arts – Graphic Storytelling (LUCA School of Arts). He co-founded graphic narrative anthology Ink (Oogachtend Publishing) and published in numerous other magazines and comics anthologies in Belgium and the Netherlands. Gradually, his focus shifted to experimental animation, where he investigates hybrids of old and new media. Besides working with analog film, his practice concentrates mostly on combinations between pre-cinema and digital animation. His short film Status Quontinuum won the Audience Favorite Award at the ESMoA Video Art + Film Festival in 2021.
Devadder is affiliated with the Animation department at LUCA School of Arts (Campus Sint-Lukas Brussels) since 2001. He currently teaches Image Research and Drawing and is working on a practice-based Ph.D. entitled From Post-cinema to Pre-cinema and Back: Media Archaeology of Loop Animation.
In this talk, Devadder will introduce two complementary perspectives: the evolution of the shutter in the 19th and early 20th century (framing time) and on the other hand the contemporary approaches, which make it possible to transgress the limitations of the frame in prototypical film (unframing time). He will address the animated machines and also talk about direct/drawn-on-film animation.
The workshop invited students to join in a socially engaged collaborative effort in depicting a happy representation of the future with stories of hope, resilience, and inspiration during the COVID-19 pandemic. The current situation around the world has shattered many dreams and aspirations. By demonstrating a reciprocal relationship between artistic production and social and political mechanisms, the participatory nature of narrative storytelling, empathy, and direct dialog has become essential in bringing those discussions to the forefront. This workshop utilized the stop-motion animation technique to highlight the importance of mental health and well-being and demonstrated how socially engaged art can act as a communal vehicle for advocacy, intervention, and healing. The duration of the workshop was four weeks, with the first week focusing on idea generation, sketching the puppet, constructing the armature of the puppet, and creating the body mass.
The second week concentrated on sculpting the face with Sculpey.
The third week centered around embellishing the puppet by sewing the attire and other accessories, hairstyling, defining facial features, etc.
The fourth week concentrated on creating stop-motion walk-cycles for each of the puppets using DragonFrame.
I had a lot of fun teaching students to design stop-motion animation puppets using everyday materials such as wood, wire, screws, nuts, and bolts, and sparking their creativity in a different way. The studio has been equipped with the latest technological tools for capturing high-resolution frames for the animation using DragonFrame. Dr. Veras has been supportive in designing this workshop and getting the supplies for students to use for that purpose. Phillip Martin Carl (Building Services Coordinator) was super helpful in carving the wood pieces for the students and having them ready to be used. The goal was to introduce the technique of stop-motion animation to the students and have them explore the medium in the experimenta.L animation lab in the Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication department at the University of Texas at Dallas.
Editor’s note: In 2021, ATEC organized a Halloween Decoration contest around the theme “Spooky and Funny.” Our lab participated and won second place, thanks to Kirstin’s vision, creativity, and effort to make it happen. Hopefully, this is the start of a Halloween tradition at the lab.
The text contribution below was written by:Kirstin Stevens-Schmidt
Going into this project initially was a bit of a challenge, especially when it came to drafting ideas. With the theme being “spooky and funny” you’d think there’d be a lot of opportunities for real winning ideas there, and there are, but my sense of humor is a little more immature than most. There was also the issue of working around the space we had. There is the door to the lab itself which is a fairly decent amount of space to work with, but there’s also the window next to it. It’s tall and narrow- only a foot or so wide- so any designs in that space would have to either continue into the design on the door or would have to look good by themselves in a space that narrow.
Sketch of the door
Sketch of the peep scenes
Quite literally the first idea in my head was doing monsters in fishnets, or just generally making classic Halloween monsters sexy. An invisible man on a stripping pole seemed like a funny idea; a way to be promiscuous without breaking any rules. From that stemmed the idea of making our decorations an interactive peep show, giving the window next to the door a functional purpose. In theory, we’d cover both the door and the window to the lab in black paper, cut out holes for viewers to look through, and on the inside we could have a scene of classic monsters putting on a little provocative show.
I settled on doing simple neon-inspired signage for the exterior- which, upon needing approval I was told to make it more PG. “Less ‘peep show’ and more Halloween” as some put it. The original design has a couple of “XXX”s and said “LIVE PEEP SHOW” instead of “LIVE CREEP SHOW” which was honestly a change I wasn’t upset about making. I appreciate the pun. For the interior, I decided to craft three different scenes for viewers to peep into, each with different monsters, and one dedicated to showing off the Halloween animation the experimenta.l. lab had done.
Final Door decoration
To make the project happen, I spent nearly one full day working on the boxes, pulled an all-nighter cutting out the paper lettering for the exterior, and spent another full day assembling everything with the help of Dr. Veras, making for a total of almost 30 hours of pure work.
I had to take some shortcuts here and there when it came to the construction of the boxes, like the monster figures lacking decent detail and the stage assembly in the burlesque box looking slightly sloppy. In hindsight, had I had more hands to help work on this the finishing on everything would have been way better than it was. But regardless, this was an overall enjoyable experience. Having been the only person to work on this in the span of two days (with some much-appreciated help), I’m pleased our decorations did as well as they did in the contest.
Access here the information about the animations produced at experimenta.l. Not all animations are available for viewing as they are still completing their festival rounds.
Collaborative animations
Frame by Philip Martin
Horse Power (2021) Directed and Edited by: Christine Veras Synopsis: Collaborative experimental animation exploring the possibilities of the frame and the continuation of perceptual motion. Animators: Elham Doust-Haghighi, Emily Banditrat, Sara Mcclanahan, Naznin Sultana, Mayson Gunnar Bray, Kirstin Stevens Schmidt, Martin Namwook Cho, Austin Maddux Sewell, Gina Rattanakone, Rachael Kathleen Drury, Neda Ghassemi, Philip Carl Martin, Jacob William Reeder, Zack Nguyen.
ASIFA Central selection October 28 to November 28, 2021, online
Cardiff Mini Film Festival October 2 to 3, 2021 in Cardiff, UK
Extremely Shorts Film Festival June 5, 2021 Houston, TX, USA
Frame by Gerardo Reyes
Halloween Sand Animation Project (2021) Directed and Edited by: Christine Veras Synopsis: Inspired by Halloween and using the aesthetics of sand animation this project presents a stream of consciousness bonded together as an exquisite corpse with more than 20 participants. Animators (in order of collaboration): Christine Veras, Danny Laboda, Bryce Sheehan, Gizem Oktay, Arianna Meisetschlaeger, Eesha Muddasani, Zack Nguyen, Martin Cho, Hamida Khatri, Benjamin Wu, Philip Martin, Norm Cox, Elham Doust-Haghighi, Hong-An Wu, Kirstin Stevens-Schmidt, Poppy Smith, Sterling Whitaker, Emily Hersker, Marcelo Rocha, Anabela Castaño De Los Santos, Gerardo Reyes.
Frame by Kirstin Stevens-Schmidt
The Collaborative Clay Animation Project (2021) Project Supervisors: SV Randall and Christine Veras Edited by: Christine Veras Synopsis: Selection of the best clay animation shorts created in collaboration between students from A&H and ATEC courses: “Sculpture: Masks, Models, and Monsters (ARTS 3375) taught by Assistant Professor SV Randall and “Topics in Animation: Experimental Animation (ATCM 4319) taught by Assistant Professor Christine Veras.
Selected student work
Frame by Ana Villarreal
Siempre (2021/2022) Created and animated by: Ana Villarreal Synopsis: Visual exploration of the idea of motherhood and the loss of a child. Animation of the process of grievance and healing. Technique: Clay on glass Developed during the Experimental Animation Course, Fall 21.
Frame by Kirstin Stevens-Schmidt
Changing Identity (2021/2022) Created and animated by: Kirstin Stevens-Schmidt Synopsis: Visualization of the experience of a changing sense of self through grief, following a tremendous loss. Technique: Mixed-media animation. Developed during the Experimental Animation Course, Fall 21.
Frame by Scott Huddleston
It is Not Perfect (2021/2022) Created and animated by: Scott Huddleston Synopsis: A 2D traditional animation exploration of neurodiversity and the struggles with ‘normal’ day-to-day tasks as someone diagnosed with ADHD. Technique: 2D traditional animation Developed during the Experimental Animation Course, Fall 21.
Frame by Cross Thomas
Dear Younger Me (2021) Created and animated by: Cross Thomas Synopsis: Animation showcasing the deeper feelings of a Transgender individual and what it feels like to experience body dysphoria. Technique: Paper cutouts Developed during the Experimental Animation Course, Fall 21.
Frame by Poppy Smith
Wolf (2021) Created and animated by: Poppy Smith Synopsis: A girl struggling with nightmares combats a wolf who keeps her awake. Technique: Mixed-media animation. Developed during the Experimental Animation Course, Fall 21.
Frame by Marcelo Rocha
País (2021) Created and animated by: Marcelo Rocha Synopsis: Short animation about the civil war of El Salvador and the destruction of one’s home country. Technique: Paint on glass Developed during the Experimental Animation Course, Fall 21.
Frame by Jared Beltran and Kelci Ammerman
Vermiform (2021) Created and animated by: Jared Beltran and Kelci Ammerman Synopsis: Vermiform is the start of a series presenting the process of post-apocalyptic birth. To produce the next generation of survivors Flora and Human DNA merged for the best offspring results. Technique: Stop-motion animation Developed during the Experimental Animation Course in collaboration with students from Sculpture: Masks, Models, and Monsters Course, Fall 21.
Virtual Exchange selected animations
One of the activities in the Experimental Animation Course taught by Assistant Professor Christine Veras in the experimenta.l. lab was a virtual exchange with students from Brazil studying food technology and the fermentation process at UNESP, under the supervision of Associate Professor Pricila Veiga. Here are a few selected results of this unusual collaboration between animators and agronomic science students.
Frame by Donte Castillo
Abstract Fermentation (2021) Created and animated by: Donte Castillo in partnership with Maria Gabriela de Albuquerque Santiago Technique: Paper cutouts Developed during the Experimental Animation Course in collaboration with students from UNESP in Brazil, Fall 21.
Frame by Ana Villarreal
Wine Fermentation (2021) Created and animated by: Ana Villarreal in partnership with Maria Clara Sarti and Gustavo Menegazzi Franco Technique: Clay on glass Developed during the Experimental Animation Course in collaboration with students from UNESP in Brazil, Fall 21.
Frame by Kirstin Stevens-Schmidt
Pineapple Wine (2021) Created and animated by: Kirstin Stevens-Schmidt in partnership with Letícia Toloto da Silva and João Pedro Maia Santos Technique: Mixed media Developed during the Experimental Animation Course in collaboration with students from UNESP in Brazil, Fall 21.
Description: Each participant will create their own unique frame from the galloping horse animation. The frames of Muybridge’s Galloping Horse will be distributed among participants.
Guidelines/Instructions:
Week 1: The first 12 frames were assigned. The submission deadline is next Monday [Feburary 8th, 2021] @1pm. Here are the details about the submission:
Submit 1 frame of the galloping horse
Aspect ratio is 16 x 9, resolution 2K
File format PNG
Name your file following the format with you name and frame number: LASTNAME_NAME_frameXX
You can change colors, add elements, using different techniques, the sky is the limit! As long as you keep an identifiable shape (of the horse).
Week 2: This round we will continue to animate the galloping horse and you will be assigned different frames. There are different (and optional) guidelines this round. A color palette is suggested and you are invited to select a 0.5 second sound for your new galloping horse frame (this is a new experimentation that we are adding on to the project). Sound files should be submitted in MP3 format.
Galloping Horse Animation:
Participants: Elham Doust-Haghighi, Emily Banditrat, Sara Mcclanahan, Naznin Sulatana, Mayson Gunnar Bray, Kirstin Stevens Schmidt, Martin Namwook Cho, Austin Maddux Sewell, Gina Rattanakone, Rachael Kathleen Drury, Neda Ghassemi, Philip Carl Martin, Jacob William Reeder, Zack Nguyen.
Start Date: January 25th, 2021 End Date: February 8th, 2021 at 1:00 pm (CST/Dallas Time)
Description: Do you enjoy food!?! Join us for a collaborative art piece that will be revealed on March 8th! Using any 2D software, 3D software, or camera, each contributor will produce 5 frames on a circle template provided by the facilitator.
Guidelines/Instructions:
For this project, you will only need any 2D or 3D software that is able to create on the circle template and produce 5 PNG or JPEG files. If you would like to illustrate on paper and submit it as a PNG/JPEG I have uploaded the template (print out at least 5 copies for this Project). During this lab, we will be drawing a total of 5 frames inspired by sound with Pizza in mind. The final compilation of these frames into an Animation.
Phase 1 (2 Frame Drawing) (5 minutes each)
Draw 2 frames inspired by Sound 1.
1st Frame are illustrations ONLY on the outside of the circle.
2nd Frame are illustrations ONLY on the inside of the circle.
Phase 2 (2 Frame Drawing) (5 minutes each)
Draw 2 frames inspired by Sound 2.
1st Frame are illustrations ONLY on the outside of the circle.
2nd Frame are illustrations ONLY on the inside of the circle.
Phase 3 (1 Frame Drawing) (10 Minutes)
Draw 1 frame inspired by sound 3.
Illustrations are drawn on the inside of the circle. HAVE FUN!
Template: in the Food Project Channel on Teams. Materials: Any 2D software, 3D software, or camera! Size: 1280 x 720 Format: PNG or JPG (No MP4 files) Naming: LastnameFirstname_FrameNumber.png/jpg Bonus Frames Naming: LastnameFirstname_BonusFrameNumber.png/jpg Length: 5 frames (or more if you already completed 5 frames and would like to draw more). Inspiration: Sound, pizza, bold and simple shapes, be free with your strokes, no pressure. Instructions: Outside and inside the circle, provide an environment and pizza.
Facilitator Message: Thank you again to everyone that could participate in our experimental lab on March 8th! Attached to this message is the outcome of what we have created together. I would like to thank you all once again for trusting me with your illustrations to create a different type of collaborative video. https://youtu.be/dYCVa4BLygg Please attend our lab today at 1 PM so we can all talk about the result of our food video and also collaborate together on a new project!
Participants: Dr. Christine Veras, Naznin Sultana, Gina Rattanakone, Sara McClanahan, Elham Doust-Haghighi, Padsala Devanshi, Martin Cho, Emily Banditrat.
Start Date: March 8th, 2021 1:00 PM (CST/Dallas time) Due Date: March 10th, 2021 11:59 PM (CST/Dallas time)
