Push Hands Animation Workshop

Push Hands Animation Workshop

Push Hands + Blender Animation Workshop  1-month workshop, Guangzhou, 4/2022-5/2022 In collaboration with Huangbian Station (Guangdong Times Museum), I initiated a 3-week, 7-session workshop that combines 3D blender animation and a traditional Chinese sport called “Push Hands”, similar to Taichi. Inspired by Jacques Ranciere’s The Ignorant Schoolmaster, I was not focusing on teaching the 3D software techniques, but was trying to build a community that encourages self-learning, communication and sharing, and investigation of the mind-body connection. The process, instead of outcome, is highly emphasized in our practice. In the workshop, we do animation and push hands alternatively, and had a group sharing at the end of each session. Participants also collaborated on animation clips, as if pushing hands both in real life and in software.

After the workshop, I collected participants' animations and their audio responses to the workshop and collaborated with another animator to make a short about the workshop itself. The short is both an independent film, a summary of people's works, a text for critical reflection, and guidance for other people to carry out a similar workshop.

We rebuilt Xiaogang Park where people practice pushing hands, put the participants' animation assets in the scene, and let them speak to their author about the experience in the workshop.

We also emphasized the dynamic process instead of a fixed outcome in making the short. We used the software interface as part of our visual element, to show the spirit of push hands--listening and following--is implemented not only between people but also between the animator and the software.