Experimental Animation
Matthew G Taylor
I’m a Geordie with an American accent! I was born in England, but grew up in Indonesia, Hong Kong, and The Netherlands before moving to Los Angeles to attend university. My third-culture-kid upbringing fostered my globalized worldview.
I’m a self taught 3D Artist and Animator, mainly working with Houdini. Earlier in my commercial career in Los Angeles, I worked on 3D commercials for video games as Head of Character Pipeline for spots accruing over 380 million views. In London, I’ve worked as lead 3D artist and animator for multiple international campaigns and pitches for design agencies. Most recently, I’ve worked on multiple viral music videos, doing lead animation and FX work. Please explore my website for more details.
Sponsors
RCA Continuation Fund
The work I’ve made at the RCA explores how performance in 3D animation can be augmented by simulation, using the materiality of 3D to create a new mode of performance. In my time at the RCA, I’ve focused my research on how finite element simulation, which can approximate the movement of flesh, can exaggerate body movement and enhance facial expression, heightening the emotional impact of the character’s gesture on the audience by deeply unnerving them.
In the projects I’m presenting here, technical exploration holds equal importance to subject matter. self portrait (except I’m bald). (2019) draws on a wide range of inspirations from Freud to Butoh. While my graduation film the mv (2020) examines the dynamic between the director, artist/performer, and the viewer, and how creative labour gets exploited in the process. It has themes of light and dark that echo fame’s double edged sword of pressure and glamour.
Also, I just enjoy floppy people.