5x Must-sees The Art Department 2023
Do you want to know everything about the design process of films, animation, and games? Then make sure to attend The Art Department. On April 20 and 21, Playgrounds organizes this international festival in Eindhoven where young creators, established professionals, students, industry experts, and fans come together. For two days, the world's leading designers and filmmakers will tell you about their experiments, successes, and failures. A festival packed with inspiration for every creative maker! Here are this year's must-sees.
Beatrice Blue
She's worked for Nickelodeon, Apple TV, and Dreamworks TV. And when you see her work, it's immediately clear what's her biggest inspiration: dreams, traveling, and nature. Beatrice Blue is an author and illustrator, and with her fairytale drawings and animations, she manages to keep children (and adults) all over the world glued to the tube. During The Art Department, she will tell you about her career and working methods, and you can ask her questions.
2veinte
Are you a fan of rapper Stormzy? Then the animations by Pablo Gostanian and Agustin Valcarenghi of 2veinte are familiar to you. These designers from Argentina made the music video for the world-famous rapper's song Superheroes. 2veinte is known for its 2D frame-by-frame animations. This is technical jargon for pasting pictures together to create a moving image. Besides commercial jobs, Pablo and Agustin make autonomous work, with which they visit film festivals worldwide. At The Art Department, they tell you all about their artistic choices.
Curt Enderle
Say out loud: I'm a fan of Pinocchio! If your nose hasn't grown from this statement, then we have great news. The creator of the award-winning film Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio is coming to The Art Department! Curt Enderle is a set designer and art director of several animated films. With his latest film, he brings new life to the world-famous story of the wooden puppet ... or boy? What is it anyway? You can ask the creator himself during his artist talk.
Godwin Akpan
Illustrations, concept design, and art direction: Godwin Akpan does it all. And that does not go unnoticed. His graphic novel Iyanu is so good that HBO made it into an animated series. He also creates high-profile (fictional) environments. Because he uses elements from the real world or well-known stories, his worlds seem kind of familiar. How does he manage to do that? Be sure to visit his presentation at The Art Department to find out.
James Baxter
Time for some nostalgia: The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Shrek 2, How To Train Your Dragon, Kung Fu Panda. We could continue, but then this would become a very monotonous article. James Baxter's work, on the other hand, is anything but monotonous. He worked on all the films we just mentioned and many more. James Baxter worked for production houses such as Disney and DreamWorks as an animator. Today he is the director of animated films at Netflix. In short: take your chance and meet this prominent figure in the world of animation.
