Animator blurs line between digital tech and theatre art

A performer during a show dubbed 'Mindscapes' at Goethe-Institut, Nairobi. The show experiments with emerging art forms and digital technology. PHOTO | KENNEDY OMONDI

What you need to know:

  • The evening turns out to be a whimsical flight into imagined worlds, fusing sound, dance, photography, video, movement and digital art. You experience stillness, bewilderment, chaos, order, hopefulness, even the bittersweet, right there in your seat.

Walking into a performance titled Mindscapes, I can clearly see how digital art is fused with dance in this exploration of the mind. How do performance artists capture the ebbs and flows of different mental states?

An evening of holograms, shadow dancing and virtual reality, perhaps?
At a phone shop in Nairobi’s CBD, you might have tried on the Samsung VR, powered by Oculus, those guys who, with the Oculus Rift, are going beyond gaming and doing ridiculously progressive things like treating depression by immersing patients in virtual realities.

So, as I walk into the Mindscapes performance at Goethe-Institut, I have my eyes on the artists creating the future by experimenting with emerging art forms.
The evening turns out to be a whimsical flight into imagined worlds, fusing sound, dance, photography, video, movement and digital art. You experience stillness, bewilderment, chaos, order, hopefulness, even the bittersweet, right there in your seat.

After the show, I meet Melisa Allela, an illustrator, animator and interactive media lecturer at the Technical University of Kenya (TUK). In collaboration with Lenny Njagih, a sound and digital artist, they worked with dance choreographers Adam Chienjo and Dina Abok to put up the show two weeks ago. It is part of The Nairobi Performance Series, a platform for cross-genre productions that are staged three times a year. Here is an excert of my conversation with Ms Allela:

You must have been one of those children who are a delightful mix of geeky and playful?
It’s funny you ask that; people often assume that I have a very serious disposition.

How does someone become a digital artist in Kenya? What are the training opportunities?
I did both my Bachelors and Masters degrees in Graphic Design at the University of Nairobi. I am currently doing my doctoral research at TUK, where I’m exploring storytelling through experimental animation techniques. As a child, my fascination with the animated TV series Gargoyles pretty much sealed my fate in obsessing about animation. While in university, I worked on the Tinga Tinga Tales animated children’s’ series as a character designer and then in layout and animation.
Most animators learn from YouTube videos and online courses. There are also digital media and animation colleges sprouting in Nairobi, but most universities are yet to catch on in offering programmes in experimental animation, visual programming for artists, visual effects and game design.

The impression is that we are worlds behind the West when it comes to digital art exploration…
Of course you can’t compare Pixar Animation Studios in the US with our Fatboy Animations; the West has been experimenting with digital art for about a century, while we just caught on in the 1990s. We are, however, beginning to see venture capitalists investing in small tech firms. We need to fund experimentation.
A lot of practicing artists are already exposed to emerging technologies with which to create art, and also the Internet has democratised access to information and knowledge. Techies coming on board as artists and artists are taking short courses on digital trends. And, just like in Mindscapes, we also have collaborations of traditional and emerging art forms.

What are the new frontiers when it comes to digital art?
At the cutting edge, it’s likely that immersive virtual art experiences will become more commonplace. These are digital installations that are three-dimensional and transform your perception of the space. Virtual reality looks promising, especially with more affordable gear like the Google Cardboard in place of more high-end expensive gear such as the Oculus Rift.

Walking into a performance titled Mindscapes, I can clearly see how digital art is fused with dance in this exploration of the mind. How do performance artists capture the ebbs and flows of different mental states?

An evening of holograms, shadow dancing and virtual reality, perhaps?
At a phone shop in Nairobi’s CBD, you might have tried on the Samsung VR, powered by Oculus, those guys who, with the Oculus Rift, are going beyond gaming and doing ridiculously progressive things like treating depression by immersing patients in virtual realities.

So, as I walk into the Mindscapes performance at Goethe-Institut, I have my eyes on the artists creating the future by experimenting with emerging art forms.
The evening turns out to be a whimsical flight into imagined worlds, fusing sound, dance, photography, video, movement and digital art. You experience stillness, bewilderment, chaos, order, hopefulness, even the bittersweet, right there in your seat.

After the show, I meet Melisa Allela, an illustrator, animator and interactive media lecturer at the Technical University of Kenya (TUK). In collaboration with Lenny Njagih, a sound and digital artist, they worked with dance choreographers Adam Chienjo and Dina Abok to put up the show two weeks ago. It is part of The Nairobi Performance Series, a platform for cross-genre productions that are staged three times a year. Here is an excert of my conversation with Ms Allela:

You must have been one of those children who are a delightful mix of geeky and playful?
It’s funny you ask that; people often assume that I have a very serious disposition.

How does someone become a digital artist in Kenya? What are the training opportunities?
I did both my Bachelors and Masters degrees in Graphic Design at the University of Nairobi. I am currently doing my doctoral research at TUK, where I’m exploring storytelling through experimental animation techniques. As a child, my fascination with the animated TV series Gargoyles pretty much sealed my fate in obsessing about animation. While in university, I worked on the Tinga Tinga Tales animated children’s’ series as a character designer and then in layout and animation.
Most animators learn from YouTube videos and online courses. There are also digital media and animation colleges sprouting in Nairobi, but most universities are yet to catch on in offering programmes in experimental animation, visual programming for artists, visual effects and game design.

The impression is that we are worlds behind the West when it comes to digital art exploration…
Of course you can’t compare Pixar Animation Studios in the US with our Fatboy Animations; the West has been experimenting with digital art for about a century, while we just caught on in the 1990s. We are, however, beginning to see venture capitalists investing in small tech firms. We need to fund experimentation.
A lot of practicing artists are already exposed to emerging technologies with which to create art, and also the Internet has democratised access to information and knowledge. Techies coming on board as artists and artists are taking short courses on digital trends. And, just like in Mindscapes, we also have collaborations of traditional and emerging art forms.

What are the new frontiers when it comes to digital art?
At the cutting edge, it’s likely that immersive virtual art experiences will become more commonplace. These are digital installations that are three-dimensional and transform your perception of the space. Virtual reality looks promising, especially with more affordable gear like the Google Cardboard in place of more high-end expensive gear such as the Oculus Rift.

I also think there is a growing interest in generative art, particularly in creating live interactive experiences with art. So there’s a chance that motion sensing devices such as the Microsoft Kinect used in Xbox video game consoles will gain wider use in the arts.

I’ve had the opportunity to watch a beautiful sound reactive visual projection piece elsewhere and I was quite taken in by the spectacle. My take from such projects is that art can and should become an experience for the masses and not just exist in galleries or collectors’ walls. Why, for instance, aren’t we mapping art on to building facades and having art installations on our streets?

Do you think children who are into gaming develop better or do you think they get stunted, as has sometimes been suggested?

I’d encourage children to learn to create their own games or animations. There are great visual programming applications for kids such as MIT’s Scratch or Mircosoft’s KODU that kids can use to learn programming. Done in excess, anything can be detrimental so I do believe that excessive, unregulated and unsupervised gaming is detrimental to young children’s development.
I also think there is a growing interest in generative art, particularly in creating live interactive experiences with art. So there’s a chance that motion sensing devices such as the Microsoft Kinect used in Xbox video game consoles will gain wider use in the arts.

I’ve had the opportunity to watch a beautiful sound reactive visual projection piece elsewhere and I was quite taken in by the spectacle. My take from such projects is that art can and should become an experience for the masses and not just exist in galleries or collectors’ walls. Why, for instance, aren’t we mapping art on to building facades and having art installations on our streets?

Do you think children who are into gaming develop better or do you think they get stunted, as has sometimes been suggested?
I’d encourage children to learn to create their own games or animations. There are great visual programming applications for kids such as MIT’s Scratch or Mircosoft’s KODU that kids can use to learn programming. Done in excess, anything can be detrimental so I do believe that excessive, unregulated and unsupervised gaming is detrimental to young children’s development.