Lilli Carré: morph, mutation, control, and revolt

Tonight’s guest lecture was Lilli Carré, an interdisciplinary artist based in Los Angeles (with an ostensible second home in Chicago) who works in experimental animation, print, and ceramic sculpture. She currently teaches in the Experimental Animation program at CalArts, and it was a pleasure and privilege seeing the range and scope of her work across multiple mediums. 

I was most affected by the short film “Private Properties” (2019/2020) because unlike her other work, it does not feature a human subject. The subject is in the recreation of an apartment, similar to how her late father would recreate crime scenes in 3D for forensics to make sense of what could have happened at a crime scene. Seeing the lines move, form, deconstruct, and reconstruct into something new again was really fascinating, and especially soothing because of the ASMR sounds Carre added. 

I also loved her short film “Glazing” (2021) because of how she thought of using animation smears as the main means of animation instead of how traditional animation uses smears as in-betweens. Seeing the character morph, mutate, and form into various shapes and forms was really beautiful and fascinating.

Carré’s talk on time, motion, and the space in between frames was particularly enlightening, and it gave me a lot to think about – especially regarding the power dynamics between creator, creation, and viewer. I was particularly moved by the larger discussion about power dynamics after watching "her short film “Jill” (2016) its homage to “Gertie the Dinosaur” (1914), and the quote:

“Sometimes laughing in the face of power is the most effective tool someone who does not have power can do”

— Lilli Carré

Carré mentioned that as artists, we are distilleries of our respective life experiences and what we grew up exposed to. Given that her parents were graphic designers – with her mother now working as a death doula – and Carré observing human shape and form change with athletic diving, I can see how much her upbringing really influenced her willingness to try and learn new techniques and equipment that emerges. Despite the various mediums she works in, I appreciate the common denominator that unites her work: mutation and morph, control and rebellion, tactility and intuition. I would have loved to see more of her exhibition work, and now I’ll try to see them in person. 

Debra Isaac: Houdini would be proud

Debra Isaac, founder of Houdini.School, is an artist, educator and entrepreneur based out of Los Angeles – and she was a fantastic introductory guest for our first class. Hearing about her how she’s navigated changing industry landscapes in both corporate and academic settings was inspiring. Seeing how she’s paved her own path following her interests and passions gave me a lot of hope given the current state of the animation industry which, for all sakes and purposes, is depressing. 

I was especially moved by her visualizing motion capture of dancers. It was a striking combination of 3D animation, color and design, East Asian zither music, and dance athleticism. Prior to seeing this short, I didn’t have much interest in learning Houdini or motion capture, and I had to restrain myself from signing up for more classes because I need to balance school with work and life. 

I was also fascinated by Debra’s experience at Mattel, and how Greta Gertwig’s “Barbie” (2023) was much more accurate about how corporate Mattel operates than I imagined. (Side note: I will not imagine every Mattel CEO as some version of Will Ferrell.) I found her thoughts on working with STEM experts helpful in terms of balancing creative vision with scientific accuracy, especially since it depends on who you are working with (e.g. a smaller STEM company versus NASA). 

Lastly, because I still have the sensibilities of a 5 year old, Debra’s poop game demonstration made me laugh. The world can be sh*itty, so why not lean into it?