O'Rourke, Woods

At random, unpredictable moments, about once every 2 to 3 minutes, a short animation unexpectedly appears projected onto the surface of the mural. Each animation consists of a character (or several) moving through the space of the woods. The characters are tiny -- the size of chipmunks relative to the trees. In actual dimensions, they are 4" - 5" tall. Though their two-dimensionality is intentionally obvious (they are unabashedly projections), they appear to move through the space of the woods because they are hidden/occluded by the trees in that image as they move through the imagery of the woods. Western art's centuries-old concern with mimesis, with representing three-dimensional space through a two-dimensional image -- what Arthur Danto called "the Vasarian narrative" -- is toyed with here. The two-dimensional photographic image of the woods represents quite convincingly a three-dimensional space. On the two-dimensional surface of that image are projected two-dimensional characters -- who quite convincingly move "through" the blatantly two-dimensional representation of the three-dimensional space.

The animations (with one exception) are humorous. They use cartoon-y characters who move in funny, cartoon-y ways. This is in contrast to the tranquility and beauty of the woods image itself. Only one of the characters is not humorour, and walks quite undramatically on and on and on until he disappears deep into the woods.

Click below for samples of the animations.