*And first there was Hirst

By Kate Bezar

Damien Hirst is one of those artists who polarizes the public and critics alike. He is most notorious for his early works, the “Natural History” series, in which he preserved a number of animals in formaldehyde. Of these, the most iconic, is a 14ft tiger shark titled ‘The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living’. (see bottom right image).

When you understand Julia deVille’s philosophy, it is easy to see why Hirst, with strong themes of mortality running though his work,, is an inspiration to her. But she’s not the only one for whom his work is a springboard for ideas.

Ever one to question the powers that be and touch the untouchable, Hirst simultaneously took on the Church and the media establishment in a more recent series titled ‘The Last Super’. In it he questioned the blind faith inherent in contemporary society for pharmaceutical drugs to ease our pain and heal the body. He has said, ‘Art is like medicine – it can heal. Yet I’ve always been amazed at how many people believe in medicine but don’t believe in art, without questioning either.’

This quote provided the inspiration for New Zealand design company Paris House’s latest range of wallets and handbags which delivers into the sometimes parallel worlds of art and medicine. The range, each designed, signed and dated by Sharon Paris is titled ‘Belief’. It’s a typically quirky collection embossed with Hirst’s quote and other working like, “gentle is that gently does, dilute, cleanse and protect”, “let sleeping dogs lie”, “Art will save the world right after rock-n-roll” and “Not a brain surgeon”. Scientific illustrations of a heart, an eye and the interior vein system of a human body are matched with expressions like, “the nature of the beast” and”today I am chemist, today I am artist”. If you smiled while reading those, or even read them aloud to someone else, that’s the idea. The brand aims to bring a smile to your dial and start conversations… not bad for a humble wallet.

Just as Hirst’s art brought to our attention our inability to comprehend our own mortality, Melbourne-based art activist, Christoper Lansell brings to our attention our inability to comprehend the damage the global warming is doing to our world.

Lansell has designed a double sided card. On one side is an image and details of Hirst’s preserved tiger shark and the price it sold for, $13m. On the other side is an image of a polar bear floating in a snow dome. It’s titled ‘The Procedure of Restoring to Life’ and has a sale value of $15m . It is one of a series of works he will showcase in the online virtual reality world, Second Life. The goal being that someone will in face for out the $15m which will enable him to make the artwork a reality.

Paris House: www.parishouse.co.nz
Christoper Lansell: www.siamstudios.com.au

It’s not all work

with Jodie Heenan Creative Director for Siam Studios.
MX Magazine, Tuesday March 4 2008, Page 6

A love of computers and a creative bent has led to all kinds of opportunities, including movies.

Q. How did you happen to do 3D animation for Aussie horror flick Gabriel?
A. I was hanging out with some people at Channel 31 and a guy come to my friend and said “I’m doing an indie film, do you know any 3D artists, we need some special effects done.” And she said “actually I do” and she connected us together. There was no money… it was more for the love of film and love of art.

Q. What did you actually do?
A. I built purgatory. Every window and every fly over the city they wanted to be dirty and dank. That was pretty much the style guide I got. I came up with the creative style of purgatory and the look and feel of what was going to happen.

Q. What title do you have on the credits?
A. 3D city pre-visualisation. I actually have it on my phone because I took a photo.

Q. How did Sony come on board with the film?
A. The director took the film over to Queensland for a conference, the managing director of Sony saw it and within 24 hours he’d signed the contract. They took it and tweaked it to where it needed to go according to their directors.

Q. What are you working on now?
A. I’m working with Chris Lansell on building a virtual gallery: coming up with concept pieces that he’d like to see as installation art pieces. But for whatever reason he can’t build them. One is a huge 6m by 3m brain, one’s a dead polar bear.

Q. Whats the point?
A. It’s about climate change. He (Lansell) is really passionate about climate change and trying to raise people’s consciousness.

Q. How did you go modelling a dead polar bear?
A. I got to the point where I had to kill it and make him look dead and I got really upset. I want it to really evoke a strong sense of disgust. We were hoping for an image that sticks with you for a little bit, you walk away and you’re still thinking about it and it just eats and eats away until you go “I get it”

Q. What do you love about your job?
A. I’ve been into computers since I was eight. I learnt how to program by the time I was 11. I’ve always been into it. And then when I discovered I could put creativity and computers together, I was just at home.

- with Rebecca Beisler

Dimension Jump

Jo Spurling looks at the less obvious differences between two-dimensional and three-dimensional animation.

What really is the difference between two-dimensional and three-dimensional besides the obvious visual attributes? To get to the bottom of the matter Desktop speaks to four very different studios.

Siam Studios

Jodie Heenan, director and founder of the Melbourne-based animation house Siam Studios, has a passion for animation that began with a form of creative procrastination often common amongst creatives who suddenly find themselves ‘on the wrong path’.
“I originally completed a bachelor of computer science and entered the workforce as an IT specialist. After a year in industry, I quickly discovered I was spending more time creating montages using paper clips and Post-it notes on my scanner bed instead of programming, so I decided to enrol into a masters in multimedia program and discovered my true love – three-dimensional Art. After graduating, I was contracted as a three-dimensional artist for an architectural visualisation company, and spent my time between contracts freelancing on various other multimedia contracts. Since my first experience in the three-dimensional environment, I have always wanted to create animations, but the hardest decision was which industry to choose. Three-dimensional artists can be utilised in many different industries, from games to film and TV, through to architectural and scientific visualisations,” she explains.

While personally Heenan prefers CG three-dimensional, she advises that there are obvious drawbacks when it comes to this medium as opposed to two-dimensional projects. “Though there are many more options available to the artist in three dimensions as far as creating something that feels ‘real’ goes, it is significantly more time consuming than two-dimensional. There are many instances where it simply doesn’t make sense to create something in a three-dimensional environment, when the same effect could be achieved in a fraction of the time using two dimensions,” she says.

“Three-dimensional is very expensive and render times can be excruciatingly long,” she continues. “Two-dimensional software is a lot cheaper and can be faster to create animation in. Render times on two-dimensional are almost instantaneous compared to the calculations of three-dimensional; however, the creative scope depends entirely on the project and the imagination of the artist. In three-dimensions we can work with true light calculations, shadows, depth etc. rather than trying to fake it in a two-dimensional program. The trade-off is render time.”

Heaven-sent film opportunity

Stonnington Leader, Tuesday December 18 2007, Page 19
Words: Kate Bruce-Rosser

VOLUNTEERING to design purgatory in excruciating detail is a task some would shy away from, but animator Jodie Heenan considers herself blessed. The Swinburne university lecturer, who teaches 3D animation at the Prahran campus, says she is thrilled to have been involved in making the movie Gabriel. The gothic action drama, telling the story of an archangel who fights to save the souls of a city’s inhabitants, started out as an independent film but was snapped up by Sony Pictures. “It’s not too common an occurrence,” Heenan said. The all Australian cast and production team originally volunteered their time because they wanted to prove that Australian talent can make films that are as good as those in Hollywood.” Heenan’s contribution was a year’s worth of late nights and weekends working on graphics and special effects to create “the place where un-rested souls go before their fate is decided”.”Every time there’s a scene with a building with a window in it looking out, they put a green screen behind it and then put my building designs on top,” she said. “I also worked on flyovers of the city.” Heenan created more than 2500 buildings.

“It was interesting and a huge learning curve, considering it was my first major production,” she said. “It was really entertaining and we had a good time.” Being involved in the movie production was reward enough for Heenan, but Sony’s input means she has now been paid for much of her work. It also helped her to move into television and film animation and start her own business, Siam Studios. Despite her hectic schedule, Heenan still manages to lecture part-time at the university she graduated from in 2003. “My lecturers are now my colleagues and it is a bit like a family. I don’t think I could leave even if I wanted to,” she joked.
Gabriel is out on DVD next year.