Art Essay 1: Thought of You - by Ryan Woodward

This is one of the most unique pieces of art I have seen. It combines the arts of dance, visual art, and music, three of the most touching styles of art to me. The animator and director is Ryan Woodward. He is a storyboard artist who has worked on pictures like Space Jam and Iron Man 2, and he has produced other short films which have shown in numerous film festivals. He collaborated on this project with choreographer Kori Wakamastu.

The depth which went into the creation of this piece is fascinating to me. First the dance was choreographed, and two couples were filmed dancing. Then Woodward transformed the dance into 2D animation. The number of drawings which went into this film is incredible. The film is around 3 minutes and there are 24 frames per second, which means that approximately 4320 seamless drawings were created for this one project.

I love the style in which the figures are drawn, a style characteristic in Woodward’s work. The figures still have raw elements, almost like graphing lines which are used to initially create figures when drawing. They seem almost unfinished at times, like the artist didn’t go back and erase these lines. This is unusual in visual art. Typically the artist wants the figures to seem as realistic as possible, so the viewer never sees the groundwork that goes into framing the drawings and creating the proper proportions and perspectives. In this case though the artist’s sketching adds to the etherial, dream-like quality of the work. Also, the faces of the characters are never clearly defined. If the viewer was watching this dance as an unanimated film, they would automatically associate the story of the dance with the specific people dancing. We don’t know who the dancers are in this case. The viewer can put any person into the places of the two characters, making the story and interpretation universal. The viewer can connect to these characters because they can be the dancer. Every time I watch this I feel myself wanting to move along with the dancers even though I have never been a dancer in my life. The connection is touching, almost infectious. This is a connection and power that is essential in art, otherwise it has little lasting impact. The way in which the artist chose to present his work is raw and elemental, allowing the viewer to personally interpret and experience the message of the piece.

Another reason I have such an appreciation for this piece is because I have never had a talent for dance. Grace is not my forte, so this style of lyrical dance has always captivated me. I appreciate the beauty and structure of ballet, but it is difficult to connect to because it is difficult for me to see it as real. The lines and fluidity of movement in modern lyrical dance are incredibly beautiful. It is real, human movement expressing emotion even in its simplest, quietest moments. This style of dance is taken even further in this choreography because the characters can move in ways humans can’t. It furthers the feeling that they are in a dream, but it also romanticizes the story. In dreams there are always elements of the unrealistic. That’s what makes them dreams. That is what our imagination is for. This art makes us use our imaginations to see these characters as human, but also as spirits and personalities.

My interpretation of this piece begins with a relationship which is ending. The man wakes up, but is living in his memories. This kind of living causes extreme pain, and the memory of his lover constantly tortures him. As humans many times we try to cling to the beautiful memories we have in the desperate hope that they will return. We want to push away that pain of loss with the happy memories, but living life in memories is no way to live. In one portion of the dance the man is just sitting and watching the woman dance. He is not living his life, just sitting back in the past while precious time goes by. And these memories can make you happy for a brief moment. The moment of the first lift is beautiful in its joy and the different shading makes the man radiate love. But then the woman turns into water, dragging him down in a flood of loss. One of my favorite moments is when the man wakes up for the second time and his arms grow as he moves and seem stuck the ground, pulling his entire body back down with him. I know this feeling well, that feeling that you don’t want to get out of bed because your body is just to heavy to move. The emotional pain becomes physical. But in the end moving on is possible. He comes back to reality, she becomes a real person, and he leaves her behind. Moving on in life does not come without pain, but it is possible.

There are so many facets to the human relationship, whether it be with a lover, friend or family member. It is a fascinating subject, and art like this can help us better understand ourselves or come to terms with our past. For me, this is one of the integral characteristics of good art. I see the artist and these characters baring their souls, and it makes me a little less afraid to bare mine.