Simon Fujiwara Hello Who?, 2022

The 30 paper collages follow the narrative of Simon Fujiwara's stop-animation film Hello Who?, introducing central themes of the artist's Who the Bær project. Held in colorful frames matching each images' dominant color, the collages deliberately draw on the simplified, bright aesthetic of children's books, as well as early film animation, while addressing topical issues relating to digital media. The 30 collages are sold with the animation for which they were produced.

The collages retain the handmade, tactile quality of the animation. The film Hello Who? was created in a process of stop-motion—placing the cut-out elements from one frame to the next to create the illusion of movement. To produce a stop-motion animation the artist cut out the character of Who, the characteristic long tongue, honey and glue visible throughout, and conceived of several settings with specific objects to create specific scenes within the narrative. A few drawn lines can be seen on the figure of Who and in some of the detailing. While several collages include altered photographs of persons (depicted on the phones or in the context of social media), otherwise all elements are made up of cut-out shapes from brightly colored paper. The background is generally held in a single bright color.

For the production of the animation, the elements were put into motion. Each frame, now assembled as a collage, was carefully arranged on a flat surface with the scene framed from above by a mounted camera. Elements were slightly repositioned between each shot — for example, the curtain opening in the first scene, the figure’s movements, or the boat traveling across the ocean. After every adjustment, a photograph was taken. Played in quick succession, it is these small changes that create the illusion of smooth motion. However, unlike drawn animations, such as the early cartoons of Walt Disney Studios, Fujiwara's Hello Who? deliberately retains the slightly jerkier, charmingly rougher appearance associated with stop-motion animation, in line with his project for Who the Bær as a voracious consumer of images who approaches the world with child-like wonder and a certain unbiased naiveté.

The simply executed but visually striking animation presents Who in a number of situations. Accompanied by a soundtrack of marching band music, the film begins with a red theatre curtain opening to show Who standing alone on a dark stage, illuminated by a spotlight. Who is wearing blue denim jeans and has a yellow heart on his chest. Various pieces of text enter the frame, forming short statements and questions. At issue throughout is Who's quest for and confusion about identities, for example that relating to race, gender, sexuality and nationality. Over the course of the animation we see Who take on different social roles: Who is seen as a homeless person, an archaeologist searching for artifacts, a wealthy person lounging on a yacht as well as a climate change activist sitting on top of an iceberg holding up a sign reading “Skolstrejk for Who?” (in reference to the activist Greta Thunberg).

The related film was premiered by CIRCA Art in April 2022 during the world-wide public screenings, organized in London, Berlin, Milan, Melbourne, Seoul, Los Angeles, and New York.


COMPONENTS INCLUDED IN SALE:
30 framed collages

Digital animation
– Animation file
– Certificate of Authenticity
– Installation manual