Crafting a Crafty Witch: Hybrid Printing Processes for Novel Animation Aesthetics

Abstract

This paper presents strategies for conducting a mixed-method practice-led investigation through the creation of a one-minute micro-short stop-motion animation film that uses 3D printing to represent two distinct design styles. The film combines the 1950s animation style of ‘cartoon modern’ (Amidi, 2006) with historic woodblock printing found in early documents on witchcraft, reflecting various definitions of 'craft' that combine analogue methods with digital skills and tools. This was documented in a making-of video, showing the various processes and technologies used throughout the film, which uses 3D printing as both a tool and a material in the creation of a novel aesthetic to explore conceptual visual ideas such as post-digital art, glitch art and sloppy craft.