William Kentridge is an artist I actually heard about over Summer 2010 in my 2D Design Class. The subjects to his pieces remind have deep touchy roots in sociology but usually posses some sort of capricious undertone or comedic relief that portray his self-expression to a T. The first piece of his I saw was actually a video animation he created completely using subtractive and additive methods to a series of charcoal drawings. Motion was given to a 2D charcoal drawing by just wiping certain areas of the charcoal off the paper. I started looking up more of his videos and found that ALL of his animations were constructed through a process of filming a drawing. He would make changes to the drawings, by either subtracting or adding more charcoal or involving small other objects, and film it again. This type of skill takes much practice and painstaking attention to detail- even more difficult because he does everything by hand and not through a CAD program. In this way, using these methods, Kentridge can defy reality in his 2D drawings by opening their eyes and create a pulsating animation. When it comes to displaying his work, Kentridge involves both the media animations and the original drawings together in an exhibit so all can appreciate his mastered technique.
Video recorded while Kentridge was recording motion using strictly shredded black construction paper swirling with handmade wind to portray "Breathe".
I think that William Kentridge is a good artist to say the least. That must take up alot of time to change the drawings and to shoot each slide. He does alot of mediums (charcoal, animations, and drawings) in his art which adds variety. The youtube video of him working on a piece of art is very interesting. I can't imagine standing there positioning all the little pieces and I would have no idea where to put them. He is persistant and determined to make a piece of art the way that he wants it to be, now thats a true artist :)
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