JUDGE’S PICK: Lucy Ash

J. Masson

Migration

ANIMATION VIDEO FILE (.mov)

I find my ideas often evolve through the creative process itself. Through glitches and technical mistakes I find interesting new levels of complexity that opens new ideas.  But this animation was created, partly, in response to Kelly Richardson’s ‘Orion Tide’ displayed at the City Art Gallery some time ago. I draw a parallel between a fictional alien fleet of space ships claiming our planet for their own, and historical events of the past, and highlight different points of view about the voyage of the Mayflower. To me, the science fiction genre is also a useful way to touch on contemporary subject matters.

“I found this animation skillful in the way that it succinctly tells a visual story in a very short time frame. It encompasses the essential beginning, middle and satisfying end of filmmaking.

I like how the film provokes questions around the hot potato that’s migration in a humorous and engaging way. At the same time it cleverly punches home the serious message that the wheels of justice may sometimes grind slowly, but deeds do have ripples and consequences. Thus it’s hard not to fill in the Covid iceberg of a self-inflected virus.

Being transported to a menacing (hopefully) futuristic landscape of space (that references Kelly Richardson’s haunting ‘Orion Tide’) is a fun ride. Plus I enjoyed the theatre of blue neon lights that beam out from a fantastically conceived fleet of Baroque Mayflower-like spaceships! My imagination was simultaneously transported backwards and forwards across parallel timelines as the spaceships hurtle towards domination of Earth. The animation has strangeness and eerie balance to it, which is brought to life through the tubular bells like soundtrack and idea of space exploration reversed. It’s a great watch!”

Lucy Ash – 2020 Open Exhibition Judge