Todd St. John - HunterGatherer
Peace and Intercultural Dialogue
Workshop March 30 – April 2 2010
Public lecture March 30
Download "Intercultural Dialogue" workshop booklet
See and download Todd St. John's interview
Todd St. John is a designer, animator and filmmaker, and founder of NYC-based HunterGatherer. He grew up on the island of Oahu, Hawaii.
His work consistently spans many different mediums, including drawing, sculpture, photography, printmaking and animation. Through HunterGatherer, St. John has created work for everyone from Money Mark to the New York Times.
He was selected for the Cooper-Hewitt Design Triennial: Design Now along with frequent collaborator Gary Benzel, and in 2008 was nominated for an Emmy for the animated short "Circle Squared".
In addition to the studio, he teaches as a visiting lecturer at the Yale School of Art's MFA program.
Workshop brief
Peace and Intercultural Dialogue
The brief is to create a video-based project relevant to UNESCO's "Peace and Intercultural Dialogue" initiative. For more information on that initiative, visit UNESCO website.
The project should connect people to each other, and seek ways to create and share individual experiences through video. Consider formal means by which video can function as more than a one-way medium. How can the process of making the video manifest itself in the final form?
There are a number of examples of video functioning as a medium of exchange: video conferencing, and chat roulette among them. Video has been used as a exquisite-corpse medium: one person starts the story, and another continues it. There is the phenomenon of the response video. There are examples that incorporate video into larger installations, which then link people remotely. At the bottom of this brief are a few starting-point types of example.
Consideration
Focus on ways that people can share their personal perspectives and experiences. Video is a hugely powerful, but still underutilised medium, especially when it comes to creating a dialogue.
Think outside of the conventions of video conferencing. For all that is great about that medium, it is still strangely homogenous: poor quality, static images of people sitting in front of computers.
Think of scenarios and means of exchange that could generate new forms.
Think of simple ways that technology has not yet been coupled with video to generate a dialogue.
Think of what you would like to see, share, and explain to the rest of the world.
Think of those lives that you would like to have a window into. Imagine a process that makes that to happen.
Logo
UNESCO has also requested an animated version of their logo to end the video pieces. This is not mandatory, but you are welcome to explore that if you are interested.
Schedule
Tuesday: At the end of the day, each group should have a written proposal, and reference and support materials that you have agreed upon. This can include initial storyboards, research materials, rough footage tests, visual reference, etc. At this point, the group should start to delegate roles; deciding who will be responsible for what part of the project.
Wednesday will be spent planning the project out. By the end of the day you should have a clear plan for the structure of your piece. At the end of the day, we will be looking at "animatics" (in case of stand-alone assignments), or "visual outline"s (in case of prototype options). An animatic is essentially storyboards laid down to video. This will include examples of the main keyframes and visuals you plan to use in the piece.
Plotting this against time will be very helpful in getting a sense of pacing issues, and flow. In case of prototype direction, the "visual outline" should include a full storyboard for the video, as well as descriptions and sketches for the other components you plan on rendering (architectural ideas, charts, etc.)
Thursday will be spent 'making'... shooting, rendering, building, animating, whatever is necessary to get your project done. For groups working on 'stand-alone', at the end of the day we will be looking at full rough-cuts: There may be a few things missing, and sound may not be final, but it should give a complete sense of the final project, so that we can discuss final edits, additions and adjustments. For groups working on 'prototype' , the presentation should include an animatic of the final video, as well as the component parts of the presentation. Certain elements can be incomplete or missing, but it should be clear what all elements of the final presentation will be.
Friday will be spend making final adjustments, edits, adding sound, and completing last minute tweaks. We can fix the final deadline for 100% finished presentations at 12 am. All projects and videos will be presented by their groups on Friday afternoon.
Reference links:
http://www.vimeo.com/9669721
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telectroscope
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfBlUQguvyw
Between heaven and earth
By Véronique Vienne
Fabrica is situated between heaven and earth, literally. The building is a partially sunken structure whose monumental crater-like atrium drops two-stories below ground. It is surrounded by rows of tall columns as exquisitely proportioned as the pillars marking the entrance of the Pearly Gates. Inside, circular galleries ascend as a series of bluish smoke rings, their polished concrete floors reflecting the winsome Italian sky. The most breathtaking feature of this compound, though, is a vast shallow pool that acts as a mirror for the passing clouds. Gazing into it is unnerving. One is tempted to step through this looking glass and jump feet first into infinity.
One could not imagine a more spectacular metaphor for a place where generous ideas are confronted with daily realities, and where innovative impulses are pitted against stubborn certainties. Indeed, conceived as a monument to our most lofty aspirations, Fabrica is also a sanctuary for our fragile ideals.
The minute I walked inside this strange edifice I felt a tension between high and low, ease and stress, wonder and dread. I figured that I was probably having a mild attack of the "Stendhal Syndrome," a disorder named after the French author who described the spiritual vertigo he experienced during a visit to the Uffizi museum in Florence. Exceptionally moving works of art can trigger spells of giddiness, rapid heartbeats, and a sweet sense of despair. However, as odd as it was, these unexpected trepidations were exhilarating. My curiosity aroused, I asked many questions but got elusive answers. The place is neither an art school nor a publishing house, I was told. No, it's not an advertising agency for Benetton. Is it a philanthropic foundation? Wrong again. Eventually I gathered that the kind of work people did in this building was steeped in contradictions — the most glaring being that having no expertise in a given field was not considered an excuse for not excelling in it.
The Workshop
At the time of my visit, the art school graduates who staff Fabrica's in-house communication "factory" were working on a UNESCO campaign to promote World Peace. World Peace? As part of a special workshop, they had been given 72 hours to create a 30-second video animation on the topic of intercultural dialogue. Their brief specified that their project had to foster "social cohesion, reconciliation among people, and peace among nations." Under the guidance of Todd St-John, who had come from the US for the occasion, they were confronting what is probably the most vexing conundrum known to man: how to stop wars! And they only had three days — and three nights — to deliver a technically demanding finished video. It was totally insane, of course. And unrealistic to boot. But welcome to Fabrica, a talent incubator where rules are rewritten, challenges met, and doors broken down, particularly those on which someone else pasted a label that reads "impossible."
The fact that the 25 people who had signed up for this workshop did not quit halfway through the process was in itself amazing. St-John's detailed recommendations, sympathetic eye, and laid-back style had something to do with it. He helped them sort out their various options (animation or film) and decide whether they needed to storyboard their ideas or on the contrary jump right in with rough footage tests. He instructed them to form groups of two to four collaborators. The sooner they could delegate roles, he told them, the easier the process would be. Then he took a deep breath, and watched them all scramble around.
The most diligent participants, intent on following the UNESCO brief as closely as possible, elected to create animations in naïve children book style, a visual language that gratifies our most infantile emotions regarding world peace. It was a safe choice, but one that gave them plenty of opportunities to display their talent as humorists. Among those who chose to do films, two groups decided to rely on the evocative power of abstract cinematography to carry the UNESCO's hopeful message. The audio track of their artful videos provided much of the impact. One particularly brave group took to the streets (the streets of nearby Venice), where they performed charades in front of bewildered tourists, resulting in a series of wacky short clips that proved that making fools of oneself in public is one of the most effective ways to win hearts.
However, I am glad to report that the most convincing video was done by the team least likely to succeed. While members of the other six groups were running about, a look of determination on their faces, these guys wandered around, or so it seemed, apparently unable to decide which way to go. In fact, I was told that the night before the presentation, at about 2:00 AM, they still hadn't agreed on what to do. But twelve hours later, when they presented their work, they got the closest thing to a standing ovation (giggles, groans, friendly booing, random clapping). I was cheering too. Their video was a witty stop-action animation, featuring fast-food as puppets, with a sushi roll in the leading role. A slice of pizza and a hamburger were cast as antagonists. As rough as it was, the film was spirited and promising. The fact that a bunch of caffeinated kids could develop overnight such a delightful argument for peace somehow restored my faith in humanity.
An Uneasy Process
If not restore your faith in humanity, a visit to Fabrica could restore your faith in humanitarian action. The people recruited to work in the many departments and programs housed inside this unusual "campus" come from all corners of the globe. English is the official spoken language, but a desire to make a difference is everyone's native tongue. Whether they work in book publishing or for Colors magazine, mind the library or run the photo studio, they are keenly aware of their social and environmental responsibilities. Which is a good thing, since they have little else in common. The UNESCO project not only tested their communication skills, it was a "mutual understanding" experiment as well. But truth be told, it did not turn out to be an engine for "intercultural social cohesion" as expected. Within minutes of the project being launched, participants formed teams according to national or cultural affinities. "Peace among nations" be damned. The Brazilians stuck together, the French retired in a corner, the Italians found each other.
Todd St-John, aware that this might happen, had stressed the collaborative aspect of the experiment and had encouraged them to investigate the universal dimension of motion graphics as a global language. "Don't let the technology take over," he had warned. "Instead, think of the way people all over the globe relate to each other, regardless of their differences." Then he had added, somewhat cryptically : "Find a place of discomfort and stay there."
Humanitarian action is not for the faint of heart. It does require one learns to step out of one's comfort zone, which is ironic since helping others is supposed to ease one's conscience, not burden it even more. While struggling to come up with a message of peace, the workshop participants had become aware of how difficult it was to collaborate with each other across cultural barriers, let alone reach a consensus on how a video could "highlight values and principles that bring people together." In the end, they all commented on the fact that it was the uneasy process, not the hopeful message, that had made their collaboration a learning experience. On the other hand, they admitted that they would never have been able to put up with the difficulties and annoyances they'd encountered during the workshop if the subject matter they were investigating had not been so high-minded.
Utopian Ideals
Idealism is the glue that helps us stick together in critical situations. But as a social cement, it works best when mixed in with art, music, lyrics. Rereading carefully the UNESCO brief, I realized that its noble pronouncements could be interpreted as fragments of an epic poem whose main objective was to buck up our timid convictions. The typewritten text, dry as it was, still bore traces of its author's original intention: raise the bar of our most generous expectations.
So I imagined Irina Bokova, the UNESCO director, delivering her "new humanism" speech in the main assembly room of the Paris headquarters. I pictured her at the epicenter of the vast auditorium, a modern architecture landmark designed by Luigi Nervi. In this magnificent chamber, a concrete shell with a web of intricate pleats and folds, I suspected that her words did not sound sentimental at all. On the contrary, they probably sent a chill down the spine of her audience. Ms. Bokova is a formidable woman, a very articulate diplomat and politician. Her plea for peace was not altogether benign. It was meant to enflame the imagination of her listeners, but also rattle their psyche, touch their heart, and transform, even for a brief moment, ordinary citizen into men of good will. One could argue that reminding people of the unassailable dignity of our most utopian ideals is just as important a task for the president of the UNESCO as devising a twenty-year plan to eradicate illiteracy.
The Power of Poetry
Some of the most effective public speakers are "griots", a term used in Western Africa to describe wandering musicians and poets who are the keepers of the oral tradition. The equivalent of the medieval bards, their role in society is to transmit knowledge, comment on current events, and often provide comic relief in times of trouble. As they travel from village to village, not only do they bring news from the world at large to remote communities, they also foster a sense of kinship. Their storytelling talent is critical to the peace-building process.
The late philosophers and political activists Léopold Sédar Senghor and Aimé Césaire, respectively from Senegal and Martinique, were modern griots. They celebrated the subversive power of poetry as a weapon against injustice and human rights violations. They have helped dispel the impression that poets and social reformers are two different breeds. After them, a number of public intellectuals, many of them from underdeveloped parts of the world, Edouard Glissant and Patrick Chamoiseau from Martinique in particular, have been using their oratory but also literary talent to change the way we approach global issues. They contend that for people to live together in peace, leaders must speak up with verve, emotion, melody, imagination, and lyrical fervor.
From the cathedral-like assembly room of the UNESCO to the Coliseum-inspired atrium of Fabrica, sincere individuals worldwide are following their lead. They believe in changing the world as artistes engagés. They are committed to serving art and humanity with equal tenacity.
To quote Aimé Césaire: La justice écoute aux portes de la beauté — "Justice is right behind the door, eavesdropping on beauty."
This essay, by international design writer and Fabrica Workshops guest commenter Veronique Vienne, was inspired by the workshop results.
For further information:
Fabrica Press Office
fabrica@fabrica.it
tel. +39 0422 516349
fax. +39 0422 516347
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