PRIOR RESEARCH
My previous research is at the intersection of digital art, animation studies and the theory/philosophy of media and the moving image. My research utilizes practice-based methods and theoretical analysis in the areas of animation studies, and digital media philosophy.
ANTICIPATED RESEARCH AREAS ~2024-2028
I identify three key research areas and list specific topics of interest within each. Additionally, I anticipate a range of collaborations within animation studies, digital art and media philosophy.
DIGITAL ANIMATION PRODUCTION
- Digital animation theory and philosophy: bridging the scholarship gap in digital animation theory
- Philosophical concepts of space and time within (digital) animation
- Practitioner issues and experiences in digital production – creative expression, access, globalisation and representation
- Digital animation production communities and artist opportunities (including practical approaches to providing these opportunities through traditional arts residency/fellowship processes)
IMMERSIVE MEDIA/XR
- World scale ‘digital doubling’ and the personalisation of visual landscape, which has both utopian and dystopian implications
- The convergence of digital production media platforms including animation, games, immersive narrative, education and ‘live action’. Opportunities for cross-media publication, creative expression and impacts on entertainment industries
- New modes of interaction including brain computer interface and passive interaction through data gathering
MACHINE LEARNING IN DIGITAL MEDIA PRODUCTION
- The impact on industry, creative practitioners, and society that arise from improvements in media production pipelines.
- The potential for ‘technological unemployment’ in societies and the future of entertainment industries and digital arts in this context. Much like in prior industrial revolutions, there are societal implications that are implicit in the technological benefits.
ONGOING/CURRENT/IDLE RESEARCH PROJECTS
- Brain computer interfaces for manipulation and transformation of digital objects
- Formal analysis of training image preferences for image datasets (collaboration with AI researcher Isha Garg)
- Nostalgia and media diachrony through the use of pixel art and animation (collaboration with animator Derek Larson)
- Monograph: Digital Metamorphosis
- The use of metamorphosis in Salvador Dali’s Destino, and Dali’s interest in transformation through animation