Clearly Blurry

Lina Machida

Japan, 2025-09-14 | Projektionsflächen, Videoprojektoren, Mediaplayer, Lautsprecher

I, a faceless being, utter “hello” to the cactus every morning. One day, when we will transform into a troop of disciplined bodies, we will fail to recall that cactus. This island country of the Far East spins in reverse. As the three animals sang, I sincerely wished they wouldn’t take them away from me. Clearly Blurry resembles a single film, yet it resists linearity. Indeed, it is a continuity of discontinuities, where each scene flows like a stream of consciousness, unfolding like appearances of memory. The animation depicts a funeral. In the Buddhist tradition, sutras are chanted at Japanese funerals. “While I listened to the chants for a longer time, my mind started to drift back to my childhood, when I used to meet him, and I wandered around the temple over and over again” says the artist. “Perhaps, if I continue walking, I might arrive at the same place again.” Along with consciousness, the video disperses into four images. Therefore, Clearly Blurry is projected simultaneously across four screens arranged at random in space. (AH)



Walk the Walkcycle (collaborative project)

Worldwide Animators & FAB & ÜB3R e.V.

worldwide, DE, 2025-09-22 | LED Displays, Sensor, Computer, Fahrradanhänger

Want to take an animated character for a walk? Walk the Walkcycle is a collaborative project that reveals the essence of animation: images learn to walk, and temporal sequences become movement. Selected walk cycles (endless animation loops of walking creatures or objects) were compiled from international submissions and transformed into an unusual form of presentation. When the specially developed hand trailer with LED screens starts moving, the animated figures suddenly appear in public space. Their running movement reacts directly to the speed of the trailer – animation thus becomes a tangible experience and is brought into urban space and exhibition space. The project combines individual artistic contributions into a collective walk. In this way, animation is not only shown as a finished image medium, but as a continuous process that can be followed step by step. With its low threshold and sudden appearance in urban space, the project reaches many different people. At the same time, Walk the Walk Cycle is open to expansion: the parade can be taken to other locations, supplemented with further submissions and thus continuously updated. In this way, a mobile, international collection of Walk Cycles is created, connecting local contexts and repositioning animation as a communal experience. (LT)



Luminous Objects

Xenorama Studio

Germany, 2022-09-14 | Bildschirme, Mediaplayer, Objekte

Luminous Objects is a series of artistic studies that explore the aesthetic potential of light-emitting surfaces at the interface of digital image and sculpture. The audiovisual compositions invite the visitors to reflect on their viewing habits, questioning how the relationship between perception and materiality shape the experience of an artwork. Luminous Objects operates at the interface between digital imagery and sculpture. Various three-dimensional elements are arranged on a screen which are virtually illuminated and animated with precisely mapped animations. This results in a dynamic interplay between virtual projection and physical object, weaving physical and digitally generated elements. The first edition is a homage to the basic geometric shapes of lens, prism, and cube. These elements are fundamental to the history of digital imaging and refer to the technological and aesthetic origins of imaging techniques. The second edition, Wireframe, is inspired by wireframe modeling, a basic technique in 3D computer graphics. It uses the motif of intersecting metal rods to outline the edges of a three-dimensional polyhedron. In this way, Luminous Objects creates spatial compositions that combine physical and virtual elements and allow a new perspective on the relationship between materiality, technology, and perception.



Leila plays the drum

Mic Lololand

Germany, 2025-09-14 | Computer, Videoprojektor, Interface, Lautsprecher

Leila Plays the Drum is a humorous and playful music installation that invites visitors to take part in a rhythmic sound experience, blurring the boundaries between musician, composer and performer. At its heart is Leila, a hand-animated percussionist. The viewer is invited to interact with Leila while taking on the role of a drummer and composer. The overall musical experience consists of a custom-designed instrument consisting of a control panel. The panel includes a set of eight drum-pads to be played with the fingers. Another eight knobs allow users to shape the rhythm and the visual aspects of the animation as well as the virtual lightning of the scene. Technically speaking, an interactive Ableton Live session runs in the background, managing an array of groovy rhythm snippets and samples. The hand-animated character Leila appears as a larger-than-live video projection and responds in real time to the composed beats. Visitors will quickly discover that Leila is a highly skilled percussionist and drummer who is capable of mastering a variety of styles – from swing tempo breakbeats to hard and heavy rock. Everything she plays is seamlessly blended by the game engine and perfectly synchronized with the beats created by the visitor. In addition to the interactive experience, the artist will occasionally perform live, playing alongside Leila as a guitar-percussion in a jam session that merges real and virtual musicianship. (AH)



Disquiet

István Hutter

Netherlands, 2025-09-14 | Projektionsflächen, Videoprojektoren, Mediaplayer, Lautsprecher

Disquiet is an immersive video installation that examines the resurgence of absurdity in contemporary popular culture and social media as a paradoxical tool for meaning-making and coping with generational anxiety. By embracing the nonsensical, the work reflects on the identity crises experienced by millennials and Generation Z, crises shaped by late capitalism, digital hyperconnectivity, and the erosion of stable ideological frameworks. Through a triptych of short animated clips that play at random, Disquiet generates an ever-shifting, nonlinear narrative, mirroring the chaotic and fragmented nature of contemporary media consumption. The imagery emerges from a process of free association, tapping into subconscious anxieties around reproduction, social belonging, and self-preservation. The rapid succession of surreal visuals evokes the sequence of social media feeds, an endless scroll of ephemeral content that oscillates between humor and existential dread. Drawing from historical and contemporary absurdist traditions, Disquiet investigates the ways in which humor, satire, and surrealism serve as psychological mechanisms for navigating a world in which absolute truths are dissolving. In doing so, the installation reflects both the alienation and catharsis found in absurdity, positioning it as a vital response to the dissonance of modern existence. (AH)



Archetypon Voxel

Felicia Bergström & Daniele Consorti

Germany, 2025-09-14 | Videoprojektoren, Mediaplayer, Mosaik

Ancient mosaic techniques combined with digital animation. The uniqueness of tesserae (small tiles) is linked with the logic of pixels and voxels, poetically deconstructing and reconstructing the mosaic space.



ACID

Pia Binder

Germany, 2025-09-14 | Drucke, Kupferplatte, Mediaplayer, Kopfhörer, Projektor

The appeal of ACID lies in the interplay between the ancient analog technique of etching with the modern medium of animation, and the classic theme of dance in the contemporary guise of club culture. The work reveals the transformation process of a copper plate that is gradually worked on until it finally dissolves. All etching techniques are used: drypoint, line etching, sugar explosion, blind etching, aquatint with asphalt dust and rosin dust, etching with nitric acid, iron(III)-chloride, etc. Etchings are usually printed using the intaglio process, but here, in addition, the relief printing process was also used. Each step is recorded as a separate print. The individual etchings result in a series of 96 images which are then turned into frames of an animated loop. The etchings together with the loop are presented as an installation. ACID deals with the theme of emptiness – fullness – processuality, depicted as a cycle of dancing people in a club. At first, the room is empty, then it fills with life. The lines begin to overlap. The planes also start to overlap until the plate is completely blackened. It is then polished and etched step by step to white, so that the space empties again. (AH)



Walk Cycle

Christopher Bonk

Germany, 2025-09-14 | Videoprojektor, Computer, Controller, Lautsprecher

The starting point for this interactive installation is the classic animation walk cycle – the smallest narrative unit, an endless step on the spot – which is expanded here into a polyphonic parade. Gradually, 3D animated figures appear on the projection, each with its own posture and rhythm. Whereas the figures in the classic walk cycle appear in their restless loop on the spot, here they set themselves in motion. Initially, an orderly sequence emerges, which gradually transforms into a playful dance scene until the whole thing tips over into chaotic movement and finally dissolves again. This creates a cycle of order, dissolution and new beginnings that is constantly renewing itself. The work unfolds as a poetic exploration of movement, repetition and collective dynamics. The possibility of influencing the work oneself is particularly appealing. With a controller in the form of an oversized music box with a key – which is also part of the animated world of figures – speed, direction and dramaturgy can be changed immediately. This creates an exciting interplay: on the one hand, it gives you a feeling of control and individual agency, while on the other hand, you always remain part of the larger structure of the parade, whose dynamics can never be completely controlled.This allows us to experience how many small interventions and movements give rise to a community that oscillates between order and chaos, external design and momentum. (LT)



(DIS)APPEAR

Matthias Daenschel

Germany, 2025-09-14 | Leinwand, AR Anwendung, Tablet

(DIS)APPEAR is a painted self-portrait that comes to life through aug-mented reality. The life-size figure of an artist emerges on a white canvas in dynamic, bold black brushstrokes. Only the face is left blank. The artist holds a black brush in his right hand and a white paintbrush in his left, a black and a white paint bucket are standing next to him. The picture comes to life when the painter bends down slightly, dips the brush into the black bucket, and starts to paint the face. Once it is completed, he pauses for a moment in a pose that can be interpreted as either self-confident or self-critical. After hesitating briefly, the artist dips the brush into the white paint bucket and paints over the portrait from top to bottom until only the white canvas and the two paint buckets remain. After a short pause, the process begins again. Disappear uses the canvas with the remaining traces of the creative process as the projection surface. Through the app artivive, the creation and destruction of the image become visible that were captured with the help of a stop-motion program. The magic arises from the simultaneity of the static result and the dynamic process, showing the artistic process, starting with the fear of the white canvas, followed by the creation of a self-portrait, and by self-doubt, resulting in the erasure of one‘s own work. (AH)



Animalis Machina, Cococh Industry

Franck Dion

France, 2025-09-14 | Reliefs, Projektoren, Mediaplayer, Lautsprecher

Animalis Machina, Cococh Industry is an immersive work touching upon the theme of the reification of animals. The viewer is invited to enter the world of the futuristic food factories of Cococh Industry, a spearheading innovative and interconnected production cycle. At its heart, artificial intelligence is placed at the service of animal wellbeing. There, the viewer will meet a straightforward invention of this contemporary industrial environment: Cococh. It is an animal turned into a machine that, to the delight of the consumer, never stops producing. Cococh – the incubator of slices of ham, Cococh – the Hard-Boiled-Egg Layer or Cococh – The Servant whose adorable antics will go viral on your social media sites! As a potential shareholder of the Cococh Industry, the viewers are entering the factory to discover the different production sectors of the machine-animals. They can have a peak behind the scenes of an interconnected industry and discover how ham, sushi, pets, milk, eggs, etc., are produced – as fast and numerous as the demand evolves. Thanks to innovative technology, no waste is being produced and no animal has to suffer, while the consumers’ needs are met. Animalis Machina examines the relationship between humans and living things. In the dystopian universe of the Cococh Industry, visitors are encouraged to reflect on our models of consumption and production. While they are at it, they could even invent a more desirable future …why not? (AH)

FAB invited:

FAB invited: VOCABERLIN

ZAR-PARTY, Sumon Kamal

Germany, 2025-09-24

At the booth of the Berlin-based association VOCABERLIN e.V. in the Festival Lounge, you will learn how and with which programs the singer GUMI is made to sing. You can make her sing your own lyrics, animate her dance moves, and learn what a ""doujinshi"" event is and how this one came about. At the VOCABERLIN booth, you'll also find a miniature stage, built in cooperation with FAB, where GUMI houses inside.



FAB Invited: Praxinoscopes

Saman Aboutalebi

Germany, 2025-01-01

One of the oldest forms of animation is therotating praxinoscope with its mirror facets.It reveals in an astonishingly simple wayhow animation actually works. We are displayingthree praxinoscopes with animated loopsin the entrance area of the concrete hall. This year, the animations were created by Saman Aboutalebi.



FAB Invited: Living Canvas: Berlin

Eddy Vajarakitipongse aka fzyx

USA, Germany, 2025-09-14

Want to bring a character you've drawn to life quickly and easily? This interactive station makes it possible thanks to AI. Children, teens, and adults create characters using traditional pen and paper, which are then analyzed by the software and animated as large-format projections. The many individual drawings are combined to form a collective mural that constantly evolves while preserving the diversity of styles. The installation takes up the principle of expanded animation by transferring individual drawings into a shared digital space, thus renegotiating questions of authorship, creativity, and collaboration.



FAB Invited: Framebreakers 2025

silent green Kulturquartier, Kuppelhalle28.09.2025, 11:00 - 16:30 hrs

Moving images can enchant and transport viewers into states of ecstasy. Students from the Kassel animation class have collaborated on a 30-minute film program for the dome that allows viewers to experience ecstasy in many different forms—from horror to mental fireworks.



FAB Invited: Floating Levels

silent green Kulturquartier, Betonhalle25.09.2025, 20:30 - 21:00 hrs27.09.2025, 20:30 - 21:00hrs

Laser artist Maxime Lethelier and musician Asako Fujimoto transform the tunnel to the concrete hall into a light animation lab. Floating Levels explores movement and place beyond the horizontal, using vertical lines and shifts to traverse diverse media and immersive environments.