Jason White was born in 1964 and attended the Imperial College of Science and Technology in London, where he graduated to a Bachelor of Science in Geology in 1986. 1988 he received his Master of Arts in Computer Design at CASCAAD, Middlesex Polytechnic. Richard Wright was born in Barnet, England, in 1963 and received a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts from Winchester School of Art in 1986, and a Master of Arts in Computer Design at CASCAAD, Middlesex Polytechnic, in 1988.

Our ideas were not centred around the abilities of any software package - we were free to use any animation function or effect that we could write a program for. Although many animation techniques can now be achieved using more sophisticated commercial animation systems, the knowledge that we were free of any software constraints apart from our own programming abilities gave us an important sense of artistic freedom and control over the machine. This meant that we felt able to concentrate on developing storyboard ideas and stretching our imaginations as far as they would go.

This animation - 'Superanimism' - is primarily about the problem of reconciling a sense of what it means to be human and alive with the intrusion of the technology of artificial life. The structure of the animation is based around a 3D modelled surface of the video screen itself, which functions as an interface (window/barrier/mirror/surface) between the artificial world of the machine and the external world of natural organisms.

Technical Background

HW: VAX 8530, Ikon Framestore
SW: Rayscan 3D (Artist's SW), Spaceward Supernova Art 24 Paint System