15 animators explore the concept of Running on Empty for Exhibit.A

A relentless loop of an electric car travelling song a work surface, the disheartening last drop of wine in a glass and the last match in a box are just some of the themes explored by animators responding to the brief: Running on Empty. Conceived by Luke Saunders, design director at Pixel Melbourne, for his new initiative Exhibit.A, the project is the first in a planned series of exhibitions that will connect motion designers from around the world. Each film can be no longer than 15 seconds in duration and 1080 × 1080 pixels, the response to the brief is down to the creative. The first 15 participants include Robert Duncan, Soymilk Studio, Gilles Desmadrille and Vera Babida (one of It’s Nice That’s Graduates 2016).

“I was lying awake one night and came to the realisation that perhaps revealing my ideas, processes, mistakes and triumphs was something I needed to do more. Or more to the point, perhaps it was something I should encourage in others within the design and animation community,” says Luke. “I think there are a lot of fantastic creatives out there that don’t receive the glory they deserve, so I figured that Exhibit . A might be a great non-biased platform to help shine a spotlight on them, perhaps by giving them a little nudge to make something novel and left of centre.”

Luke plans for more exhibitions, and you can find out how to get involved on the Exhibit.A site. “This first exhibition had a very Melbourne-centric focus, though the interest and great work I’ve received from so many international talents tells me there is an opportunity to eventually launch this in other cities globally,” says Luke. “ I’m hoping Exhibit . A will effectively become a tangible means of communication between designers and animators where they could be uninhibited to take risks and push their personal style.”

You can see all 15 animations here.