Eli Schwanz
Art, Animation, and Design
Bio/Press/CV/Contact
Sculpture, Installation, ++
Animation, Film, ++
This video is a study for an ongoing project which focuses on solitary strongholds in different landscapes. I made it not as a narrative but as a way for me to explore these places on my own. It's important to me to be able to explore, create and communicate these places in a format where virtual and actual are given equal importance. I'm currently developing multiple video projects similar to FORESTSSS FORTRESSS. All have taken the form of animated films, where the sequences are continually building and developing. When I'm able to create new material, it finds a place in the film, refining the previous scenes and getting context from the ones that came before it.
The ability to be able to create and explore at the same time and move from state to state (from hard to soft, from virtual to actual, 2D/3D and so on) is essential. Working in 3D (as opposed to hand drawn, 2D, etc) offers the ability to interact with an environment, to explore within it and to mold and shape it. In my practice, the translation from virtual to actual isn't one-way - to invoke the idea of the in-between, it's important that work can exist between two states - between Forest and Fortress.