Commission: Mel Murakami Exhibit
Motion Design
Overview
A commission from the Nikkei Memory Capture Project for an interactive research exhibition at the Bunka Centre in the Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden, Alberta, Canada. The client sought to engage visitors with their research on the internment of Japanese Canadians in the 1940s through experimental kinetic typography. In collaboration with the client, I developed the core concept, Human vs. System, creating two animations that contrasted worn, handmade letterpress. These were inspired by two words: ‘Evacuation,’ a euphemism used for the discriminatory process of forcibly deporting Japanese Canadian citizens to labor camps, and ‘Haiseki,’ meaning ‘elimination’ (hai) and ‘to reject’ (seki), with overpowering digital typography to visually communicate this tension.
Reference images and visual inspiration for the Japanese Canadian internment, including posters, photography, and newspaper clippings.
Early storyboard draft and letterpress prints used to create the final assets for the final animations.
‘Evacuation’ animation.
‘Haiseki’ animation.