Summation - Bezalel Animation Studies, BFA

This would be the last post on this blog. One year After Graduation of Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design. This blog is a chronological archive of exercises I made during my studies. I hope it will be of interest to people who are considering studying at Bezalel.

I think it is important to mention some details about my personal experience: I started Bezalel at the age of 33, after having had a lot of experience as a 3D generalist for TV commercials. I came to The academy looking for a place to re-find my forgotten creativity. The academy was just the place for me as the teachers gave much freedom in the exercises. In addition the art history and philosophy courses were very inspiring and helped making me into a  more informed artist.

When I enrolled to the academy I thought I was going to major in 2D animation. At the time I had been very interested in the craft of animation. But Bezalel is not an industry oriented school and I gradually shifted my interest into more conceptual realms. I should mention that Some other students, who insisted on  making films in Disney/ Pixar style, were frustrated from not having enough of training in those directions.

My graduation project: Patterns (July 2015)

Originaly, my graduation project was an exhibition of a series of projections and computer prints.

I later put those videos together to make it into a single channel video so I could send it to festivals.

I didnt send it to so man festivals but it did get into some. The highlight was Annecy Animation Film Festival which surprisingly accepted the film into the Graduation competition.

Here is a short text about the piece:

Patterns is a sequence of digital animations in which raw images and sounds are generated by computer algorithms and conformed by the artist into meaningful shapes and sounds.

The piece's premise is that the digital medium is a world. A world to be explored and cultivated by the artist. It is a world because it is a platform for the existence of beings and events. It is an alien world with different natural laws; It is a discrete world in which atoms are pixels and single audio samples and in which forces are computer processes which manipulate the digital matter. Before it is cultivated by the artist, this world is incomprehensible to human perception. The end product is a strange combination of familiar and alien. It gives a feeling that there really is a world out there, inside the computer. Maybe it is the afterlife, maybe it is a refuge.

an Excerpt:

Patterns - Excerpt from Shahar Davis on Vimeo.


and here is a view from the actual exhibition at The Bezalel Academy on July 2015.
Overview from Shahar Davis on Vimeo.

Here is an interview about the piece during Annecy Animation Film Festival

Under The Small Sun - Third year Final film (January 2015)

A film I made together with Tal Kantor. It's our third year final film. We were supposed to finish it on June 2014 but only finished it on January 2015. Making this narrative and figurative film released me to make a very abstract film as my graduation film. We sent the film to quite a few festivals and it had some success.

Under The Small Sun from Tal Kantor & Shahar Davis on Vimeo.

Transcendental Function (June 2014)

This was an assignment fo Dudu Mezach course, it was an open assignment for a personal experimental piece. This is my second piece in this annual course. at The end of first semester I made "Hermeneutic Circle and it's Breach" which is not publicly available online but I used parts of it in my graduation film "Patterns"

Transcendental Function from Shahar Davis on Vimeo.

Our perception is by mental representation. Representation is never the same as reality. Reality is out of reach of perception. Reality is transcendental like a dream, like god, like mathematics.

Experimental Video and Animation created in the framework of a course taught by Dudu Mezach in Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design Jerusalem in 2014.

Variation 09, Animation for sound assignment (May 2014)

J.S. Bach - Goldberg Variation No. 9 - Canone alla Terza
played by Glenn Gould

'Animation for sound / Music interpretation'
An assignment for Rony Orens Experimental animation course

Variation 09 from Shahar Davis on Vimeo.

The sun, Glenn Gould and I

A new Experimental Animation I made for Rony Orens class in Bezalel.

...

NYan Capitalist dog chasing Nyan Cat

Gif:

Full video:

NYan Capitalist dog chasing Nyan Cat from Shahar Davis on Vimeo.

Stop Motion of NYan Capitalist dog chasing the sublime Nyan Cat in the heavens:
The dog is sniffing around, hears the NYAN cat meows and chases him in the heavens for eternity.

Made of credit card pieces, SIM card, a Penny and a Nickel, an old camera dial, some electric wire connectors and a "like" rubber stamp.

Original animation by Shahar Davis

This is comment to the original NYAN CAT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH2-TG...

Song by Daniwell-P/Momone Momo UTAU http://momolabo.lolipop.jp/nyancatson...
I do not own the song, no commercial use.