Phenakistoscope: The shroud of Turin
As my Donald Trump phenakistoscope animation worked so well, I thought about trying something a bit more complex. And after seeing the trailer for the film Loving Vincent I thought that painting each frame of the animation on a small scale, would make a rather beautiful animation. I first looked for images of Christ so that I could guess the facial reconstruction from the relic, shroud of Christ.
I then had to fill in the gaps of the development of Christs face as I had to make the piece 8 frames long for it to work. I began by cutting a circle of card and, like the the first phenakistoscope, I used a protractor to divide the circle into 8 equal segments. In the first segment, I sketched out an outline of the shroud of Turin.
I then used tracing paper over the top of the first sketch and filled in a few more details. This drawing could then be transferred to the outer segments of the original. I repeated this technique until I had a study of Jesus Christ, as represented in paintings throughout history.
I wanted the piece to look as if Jesus' face emerges from the relic, so I painted the first frame very faded. I then painted the successive paintings slightly clearer and brighter.
The final frame, revealing Jesus, is the most detailed of all of the paintings. This was quite hard to achieve on such a small scale, however I do think that I have made him recognisable as well as haunting.
Next, using the same stop motion application as before I animated the wheel by taking a photo of each painting at the exact same position. It took quite a few attempts to produce a smooth animation. I am very happy with the result (below) as there is a clear transition from relic to person, from life to death; a perfect cycle. The peice is a materialisation of the resurrection of Christ. As it is in animated form rather that just a series of paintings there is a dynamic element that is fast and cyclical. This piece doesn't neccissarily have a sense of humour, however, I was thinking of making this into a triptych with one other Saint and with Donald Trump. I think it would be quite funny and culturally relevant to translat the idea of worship from a traditional sense into a topical one. Again this would be a juxtoposition of the traditional and the modern.
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