So the inspiration for this animation (watch the two videos below) came from the 'kiki/bouba effect'.
In short, the experiment presents people with two shapes: one is round and curvy and the other is spiky and only made up of lines. Participants are then asked which one would be called 'bouba' and which one is 'kiki'.
The fascinating thing is, regardless of what language people speak, they decide the curvy shape is 'bouba' and 'kiki' is the spiky shape 70% of the time. It's thought a lot of it comes from the shape our mouths make when saying those words and how they mirror the shape's form.
Anyway, it's a fascinating rabbit hole of linguistics and sound symbolism if you like that sort of thing and I thought it was interesting enough to spend two months making a stop motion animation about. There's 448 unique wooden frames, cut on the CNC machine, which were then sanded, primed and stenciled.
Note: A couple of the figures that come with each shape don’t ‘stand up’ on their own and were held up via pins connecting them to the tabletop
Each shape (including the figure it’s photographed with) is £135 and each random wooden figure is £40.
TITLE: The New Shapes DIMENSIONS: Way too many different dimensions to list but, to give you a sense of scale, the figure’s head is 3cm wide MEDIUM: Spray paint MATERIAL: MDF EDITION SIZE: 50 unique shapes (with each shape coming with the figure it’s photographed with) and then there’s 448 unique wooden figures MISCELLANEOUS: Shapes are signed, dated and numbered on the reverse // Wooden figures are numbered and signed on the reverse, with the logo tag stencil incorporating a ‘John’ shape to indicate the frame is from ‘The New Shapes’ animation
So the inspiration for this animation (watch the two videos below) came from the 'kiki/bouba effect'.
In short, the experiment presents people with two shapes: one is round and curvy and the other is spiky and only made up of lines. Participants are then asked which one would be called 'bouba' and which one is 'kiki'.
The fascinating thing is, regardless of what language people speak, they decide the curvy shape is 'bouba' and 'kiki' is the spiky shape 70% of the time. It's thought a lot of it comes from the shape our mouths make when saying those words and how they mirror the shape's form.
Anyway, it's a fascinating rabbit hole of linguistics and sound symbolism if you like that sort of thing and I thought it was interesting enough to spend two months making a stop motion animation about. There's 448 unique wooden frames, cut on the CNC machine, which were then sanded, primed and stenciled.
Note: A couple of the figures that come with each shape don’t ‘stand up’ on their own and were held up via pins connecting them to the tabletop
Each shape (including the figure it’s photographed with) is £135 and each random wooden figure is £40.
TITLE: The New Shapes DIMENSIONS: Way too many different dimensions to list but, to give you a sense of scale, the figure’s head is 3cm wide MEDIUM: Spray paint MATERIAL: MDF EDITION SIZE: 50 unique shapes (with each shape coming with the figure it’s photographed with) and then there’s 448 unique wooden figures MISCELLANEOUS: Shapes are signed, dated and numbered on the reverse // Wooden figures are numbered and signed on the reverse, with the logo tag stencil incorporating a ‘John’ shape to indicate the frame is from ‘The New Shapes’ animation
AND HERE’S THE VIDEO ⤸
AND ANOTHER VIDEO WHERE THE FIGURE GIVES THE ENTIRE TOUR ⤸
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