I’ve called my animation piece ‘My Being in the World’ which is based around Heideggers theory of ‘Dasein’. The translation of ‘Dasein’ is ‘There Being’ which describes Heideggers philosophy of being human and a quality of
self-awareness. Heidegger states that Being-in-the world occurs in the present,
the essence of ‘Being’ is an independent knowledge of physical representation.
In my piece I wanted to illustrate a visual example of how there is
metamorphosis of the tool (the bike) from being ‘present-to-hand’ this is when you are aware of the bike as a tool to ‘ready-to-hand’ when you are no longer aware of the functionality of the tool (the bike). The
bike then becomes invisible to you and becomes an extension of ones self.
To further emphasise the fact that the tool (the bike) has become an extension
one self I have shown its evaporation from the conscious mind by dissolving its
visual presence thus confirming it as an extension of the body.
Once the boundaries of how we perceive the world has been lifted we no longer
have to conform to what can be achieved within our own minds. I have
illustrated this with the freedom of flight helping us to break free of our own
self-imposed mental constraints.
Visually I wanted the character to remain faceless and the bike to be detailed.
I did this so that you would be less involved with the actions of the character
and drawn to the changes of the bike. Once the bike evaporates you are left
with the faceless character whose boundaries of perception have been altered.
To create the character and bike I initially took photographs of myself in
various poses and movements on the bike.
I then took the digital images into Photoshop and masked out the background so
that I had standalone versions of my characters movements and the bike.
I then imported all of these elements into Flash where I then created the
animation ‘My Being In the World’. The text that I have running throughout the animation is taken from a quote
written by Dourish in 2001 from his book ‘Where the Action Is’. I felt these words encapsulated the message my animation is trying to envoke.
I hope that you enjoy my animation and look forward to your comments.
