Re-Animation Station

I was stumbling around the internet for what I can't quite remember but this beautiful image landed right in my lap and like a bird following breadcrumbs I had to see where this deliciousness would end. Lucky me it ended in a feast of awesome animation.

Beast Animation Studio is a creative little studio from Belgium that makes incredible stop-motion animation. The above photo is from a project they worked on with Bertrand Mandico a French film maker who makes hauntingly beautiful short films. This project was called “La resurrection des natures mortes” and is supposed to be released in 2011 (I am still waiting but when it is released or a clip of it is available I will post it here.)

This project was of particular interest to me as it relates to research I am doing for my next body of work. Giving life to animal corpses has been practised for years to many degrees of sucess and failure but to re-animate a corpse through video accomplishes something that  taxidermy cannot: the illusion of motion. While taxidermy generally keeps the "specimen" frozen in a state of perfection, these beasts exist in a post-mortem reality where their age and matted fur are coupled with elements added by the director. This post-mortem reality speaks to the sacred and the profane simultaneously while walking the fine line between art and the grotesque. I love it!

Check out the full post at Beast Animation's Blog.  Here are some more images from the photo shoot: