Infinite Animation: The Life and Work of Adam Beckett
Published 2019, CRC Press/Taylor & Francis Group.
Papers published and presented
Published papers
"Sensing Chapel Island; animation as a process of witnessing Place". (Tangible Territory online Journal, Issue 4, Summer 2022.)
"Early Connections Between Film and Emerging Media as Evidenced in the Animated Worlds of Adam Beckett" Presented at Animation Universe, The Society for Animation Studies 2007 Conference; Portland ,Oregon, June 30 - July 3, 2007. Published Feb. 2008, Animation Studies, Peer-reviewed online journal for animation theory and history. Vol. 2 (can also be accessed here via Virginia Commonwealth University's Scholar's Compass).
"Persistence of Vision: The Value of Invention in Independent Art Animation"
The focus of this investigation is in the realm of animation that straddles the ever-shrinking gulf between a screening and an exhibition, the theater and the art gallery. There is a subtle maturity and movement in the animation art world that not only continues but also extends the often-overlooked legacy of independent animation while engaging the conceptual dialogue of contemporary art. This tradition of an art aesthetic is passed from the early inventors who fashioned the necessary tools and images. The myriads of techniques and concepts evidenced throughout this history inform the current practitioner, just as digital technology and the aesthetic questioning of art offer a broad opportunity for frame-by-frame moving images.
Presented at Connectivity , The 10th Biennial Symposium on Arts and Technology at Connecticut College; 3/31/06. http://cat.conncoll.edu/upcoming.html
(can be accessed via Virginia Commonwealth University's Scholar's Compass).
"Content and Meaning in Abstract Animation"
Talking about the content and meaning of abstract animation, for the practitioner or enthusiast, is like discussing why one eats chocolate or why we stand at the edge of the ocean, experiencing the sensation of the sand being sucked out from under our feet by the pull of the receding wave. Or why listening to a beautiful adagio can create such a stirring response. These experiences stand for themselves and need no explanation.
For the uninitiated, or the viewer who has little to no encounter with abstract animation, however, these moving images can be initially disconcerting and hard to understand. If these are ‘moving pictures’ what are they pictures of?
Presented at Siggraph 2003, as part of the Course "Appreciation and Criticism of the Short Animated Film", organized by Barbara Meier of Brown University. http://www.siggraph.org
(can be accessed via Virginia Commonwealth University's Scholar's Compass).
Talks and Presentations
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“Animating Place: connecting to place through the process of animation” Society for Animation Studies Annual Conference “Animation Unlocked”, hosted by Teesside University, UK. June 29, 2022.
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“Sensing Chapel Island; animation as a process of witnessing the ongoing becoming of Place”. Ecstatic Truth symposium, Prague. International/juried,. April 8, 2022.
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“ANIMATING PLACE: In Search of Chapel Island” SWPACA 2022 Conference (Southwest Popular/American Culture Association) Juried. February, 2022. Albuquerque, NM.
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“Un-settling/Re-membering: the animation of place” Texas Tech Landmark Gallery - Public talk, Invited.(February 23, 2024)
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“Falling Back to Earth: engaging the eco-phenomenological aspects of animation”, Society for Animation Studies Annual Conference “Animate Energies”, online, hosted by Tulane University. June. (accepted for 2020 conference/postponed) June 2021
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“The Practice of Animation as an Empathetic Seeking and Sensing of the More-than-Human World”, SWPACA 2021 Conference (Southwest Popular/American Culture Association) February.2021
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“Dream of the Sphinx” Art Brut and the Surrealistic Musings of James Gore”, Association of Art Historians conference, Loughborough University. April, 2017. (Publication pending)
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“Lines of Illusion; History and Pedagogy of Innovative Animation”; Techtonic Shifts, Annual conference of FATE (Foundations in Art Theory and Education), Indianapolis March, 2015.
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“Independent Animation in the U.S.A.; ‘Making Do’ in the 1970s”; The Animator, annual conference of the Society for Animation Studies, Toronto, Canada. July,. 2014. (Publication pending).
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“Dream of the Sphinx: Art Brut and the Surrealistic Musings of James Gore”; The Animation Machine, annual conference of the Society for Animation Studies., Melbourne, Australia. 2012
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"Blurring the Edges: Animation in the Land of Visual Effects"; presented at "Technology Revolution: The Twelfth Biennial Arts and Technology Symposium" at Connecticut College. March, 2010.
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"From Pythagoras to Pixels: the Ongoing Trajectory of Visual Music"; Siggraph 2009, New Orleans. Presented opening lecture for Visual Music series in Computer Animation Festival. August , 2009.
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"Innovation in Animation: Exiting the Comfort Zone", Siggraph 2009, presented in session "Education: Learning and the Studio"; other session members were from Rhythm and Hues, and Dreamworks.