Year: 2022
Medium: Continuous computer animation on LED screen with sound
Dimensions: 100 x 50 x 8 cm (39 3/8 x 19 3/4 x 3 1/8 in.)
Edition: # 1 of 4 + 1A.P.
Acquired from Maho Kubota Gallery, 2022
Opie has consistently incorporated elements of motion into his works through animation. His simplified line-drawing portraits of blinking subjects, and his “Walking” series, which captures the smooth motion of people walking, are well-known examples. One of the most noteworthy aspects of Opie’s work is how the artist makes the absolute most of simple lines. Having accurately captured the characteristics of his subjects, he simplifies them and then reproduces the extremely complex facial expressions and movements of the figures through delicate control of the lengths and angles of the lines, the position and size of the dots, and their mutual relationships. The simplification of forms is also a process of abstraction. While abstraction naturally leads to a loss of the subject’s distinctive characteristics, Opie has an eye for the moment immediately before that loss. In this work, the dancing figure is highly simplified, with a round head and a simple silhouette of the body. At first glance, the movements appear mechanical and lack personality. However, “Dance 3” was created as a series of four works, and by comparing the differences with the other three dances that share the same choreography, the “individuality” of the dancer becomes apparent. The light movement of the skirt swaying as the body bounces gently up and down, the twisting of the upper and lower body, and the gentle transmission of energy to the shoulders, elbows, and wrists—all captured with such fine detail that one would think this is a real person dancing. Animation involves the creation of a video by segmenting continuous movement into frames and putting those frames in sequence. Although the human eye can only perceive it as a sequence, the viewer should keep in mind that this work is a product of the accumulation of Opie’s pursuit of precise lines and expressions in each frame, of which there must be tens per second.
