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Drawn-on-film animation ©NFB
I got an email from the GVPL the other day to tell me the Japanese
Design book I’d requested was available for pick-up. Unlike some of the history
books on the reading list for our November trip to Japan, this book has lots of
pictures, so it’s easy to remember some of the stuff I’m reading. For example,
did you know the Japanese have at least twelve words for ‘elegant’? One of these
words (suki: informal, subtle elegance) could be said to describe the clean energy haiku I hope to program a computer to write.
My plan is to have the computer illustrate the haiku it generates as
well, in an appropriately suki manner, possibly reminiscent of the hand-drawn
animations Norman McLaren produced at the National Film Board of Canada about
sixty years ago. The classic McLaren animation, Blinkity-Blank, is an excellent example of his signature irreverent and playful style, which often features lines, dots and other abstract forms, along
with people, birds and the occasional horse. And
it goes on f o r e v e r. It was created in 1955, well before we all
developed 22-second attention spans.
