COMMUNITY ANIMATION

COLLECTIVE ART-MAKING FOR COLLECTIVE LIBERATION
An experimental, collaborative project

ABOUT THE PROJECT

Hi, my name is Wynn (they/them). I am a nonbinary artist, designer and animator of Irish and Scandinavian descent, living on the unceded lands of the Tongva and Acjachemen peoples. I organize multimedia, experimental projects that build community, express solidarity and offer space for grief. Inspired by freedom movements and grounded in reverence for the natural world, my most recent projects approach animation as a metaphor for collective movement-building and celebration of difference.

I am currently in my final semester of an MFA program in Studio Art with a focus on Experimental Animation at Cal State Long Beach. As the genocide of Palestinians intensified after October 7th 2023, it became increasingly difficult for me to find meaning in art-making, particularly as an American at an institution that invests heavily in weapons manufacturing, has a Zionist president, and represses student and faculty organizing on campus. As I became more involved with local organizing, I increasingly found that community was my main antidote to horror and despair.

In the winter of 2023/2024 I was seeking forms of art-making that were more meditative and grounding. I found myself creating loops, and taking some comfort in the ways that they can go on and on with no clear end point or beginning, infinitely iterated upon. I found metaphors for cyclicality, regeneration, and grief in these loops.

I was spending time with images of watermelon that were circulating heavily for their symbolism in the movement for Palestinian liberation.

I created this short loop with crayon and traditional animation paper, which I then composited in Photoshop using images of Palestinian journalists, resistors and martyrs.

I continued to iterate on this concept of a watermelon growing from a seed, ripening, cracking open, returning to the earth, and regenerating. As I considered ways that art-making could meaningfully contribute to the movement to end genocide and the Palestinian liberation struggle, I found my way back to community through collective art-making. I decided to use my thesis project as an offering to my community and a message of solidarity. The intentions of this project are:

to demystify animation and empower participants with some basic skills and understanding of the animation process
to create a gentle space for community members passionate about ending the genocide to reflect and connect with one another over a meditative art activity, in hopes of strengthening our web of local connection and deepening our commitments to our work
to provide a venue for fundraising for Gaza
to use animation as a metaphor for collecting movement-building, reminding us that we build power through each of our our small, unique contributions

I created this loop using a “tradigital” animation software called TV paint. This became the basis for our community animation project.

This looping animation is over 500 frames long. The frames have been printed out and community members are invited to color them in at a series of workshops, held at Place Long Beach. Participants are encouraged to consider each frame a prayer, a commitment or a demand for the end of genocide and empire. The workshops are drop-in and free, with donations encouraged. Food and materials are provided. This page will document our progress and the loop as it evolves with each workshop.

WORKSHOP NO. 1

DATE: JULY 11, 2024
LOCATION: PLACE LONG BEACH
PARTICIPANTS: 15
FRAMES COLORED: 127
FUNDS RAISED: UNKNOWN

CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS: Kat, Dennis, Julayne, José, Anthony, Daniela, Noelle, Andi, Mausii, TK, and many anonymous participants

Flier from the first Community Animation Workshop at Place LB on 7/11/24.

7/11 DonationS report-back

Several fundraisers by community members with connections to families in Gaza and Southern Lebanon were spotlighted with QR codes, but we did not collect or track donations.

our composited animation after workshop no. 1

Progress on community animation after our 7/11 workshop. Line drawings and compositing by Wynn Barnard. Music by Nawal Zahzah. Photos by José Loza. Colorizing by workshop participants.

WORKSHOP NO. 2

DATE: AUGUST 20, 2024
LOCATION: PLACE LONG BEACH
PARTICIPANTS: 17
FRAMES COLORED: 108
FUNDS RAISED: $55

CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS: Dani, Cat, Ray, Katelyn, Char, Nick, Alicia, Lauren, Noelle, Xinyu, and many anonymous participants

8/20 DONATIONS REPORT-BACK

At this workshop I collected donations through my Venmo. I did this because I wanted to be able to track how many donations were coming in through the workshops. I initially received $45 in Venmo donations. These were sent to a community member whose family is fundraising to evacuate their village in Southern Lebanon, as neighboring villages are being bombed by the IOF. The next day, a $10 donation came in. I donated this to a fundraiser that was shared by the same community member, fundraising for the poster’s family in Gaza.

SEPTEMBER DONATIONS UPDATE: ANIMATOR HANEEN

Haneen Muhammad Koraz is an animator in Gaza who has been hosting community animation workshops with youth and women to tell stories about their lives. We connected on Instagram in late August. Since learning about her work, I am directing all future donations to Haneen’s GoFundMe. Learn more about her work on her Instagram.

This is an experimental project and an evolving work-in-progress, in which the process is as important as the product. Keep checking this page for updates, and if you have thoughts, feedback or questions, feel free to email me at hello@wynncredible.com or DM me on Instagram @wynncredible.

Special thanks to Beom Sik Shim, Beaux Mingus, Fafnir Adamites, Gina Napolitan, José Loza, Kimiko Miyoshi, Nawal Zahzah, Noelle Averett, Toria Maldonado and Place LB for their time, input and support in developing this project.