Above & Beyond: Aboveground Animation

In a world of .gifs and zombie rapper holograms, "animation" means something way different than it did in the Disney days as techniques and aesthetics develop. But if Cartman, Nemo, and claymation enthusiasts were all going to hang out, where could they go to find common ground? The answer is the Aboveground Animation showcase, or now, the recently launched AbovegroundAnimation.com.

Aboveground started in 2008 in Chicago as a showcase of the state of contemporary animation. As a representive explained to me, the showcases bring excitable viewers together to be entertained by images that evoke euphoria, terror and beauty. Some videos make use of live recordings, such as Cody Critcheloe's psycho-delic video for Woman, or Justin Kelly's Vibeflex, which appears to be recorded on a camera phone. Other videos, such as Doppelganger by Clara Kim or Return as an Animal by Bruno Dicolla, feature classic stop-motion and illustrated animations.

However, CGI imaging seems to be a favored medium, and most creators make use of non-traditional plot devices. My favorite video on the site is the innovative Trilogy by Lauren Gregory, who created the animation by photographing each frame on the same hand-painted canvas. The breadth and depth of the work on the site is truly remarkable.

With so much to offer, it's a good thing that Aboveground finally has its own home online. Visitors can check out the archives of past showcases, and even submit their own animation, video, or .gif for possible inclusion on the site. Thanks to this new online visibility, Aboveground continues to press "play" on the future of animation.

ABOVEGROUNDANIMATION.COM