Imagination Practice

Synopsis

Suwami Nogami's minimalist line drawing "Imagination Practice" portrays a continuous "thought loop." The artwork shows an artist seated in front of a window, with a desk before them that holds a self-portrait reflecting the artist's own appearance. The window frame and the blue sky with drifting clouds are colored, whereas the artist's form remains uncolored. A soundtrack accompanies the piece, mimicking a skipping record and adding playful spring-like noises reminiscent of Bugs Bunny; these cause the scene to loop endlessly from the initial setup through to the "drawing" phase. The work examines the circular relationship between an artist and their art, offering a philosophical perspective.

Background

Released in 2005 on DVD, Thinking and Drawing features a wide selection of animation styles from line drawing to CGI manipulated photographs. The subject matter ranges from feminist allegory to ghostly tales. Although each film has a short running time of between 5 and 17 minutes, the depth of meaning in each is truly astonishing. The films have shown together and separately at festivals in Europe, North America, and Australia.