Adam Wells' poignant animation narrates one woman's modern love

Date
28 January 2015

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Modern Love, as with any love, can be a painful, difficult thing; but also one that can save us from loneliness, and make us feel safe when the world feels like a frightening place. It can make us see a new city in bright colours where before it was grey, and it can also crush us. These vacillations between fear and warmth, joy and pain, and a heart swelling and being later torn apart into nuts and bolts is explored beautifully in this animation by Adam Wells, which brings to life a story in The New York Times’ Modern Love series by Laurel Fantauzzo entitled Breaching the Seawall.

The story traces a few weeks in the life of a woman who has just moved to Manila. She initially finds the city vast and intimidating, closing herself away with pirated Mad Men DVDs and shutting the door to the outside world and the people in it. That is, until she meets a woman with a bicycle, who suddenly opens her eyes to Manila and to the world. Through Adam’s simple shapes and their fluid movements we navigate these heady first flushes of love with our protagonist; the pared-back colour palette gently forming a backdrop to the poignant tale. As the woman’s life becomes intertwined with that of her amour, she too gets a bike; which serves as a metaphor for her heart. What happens to it in the end? You’ll have to watch and find out.

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Adam Wells: Breaching the Seawall

Above

Adam Wells: Breaching the Seawall

Above

Adam Wells: Breaching the Seawall

Above

Adam Wells: Breaching the Seawall

Above

Adam Wells: Breaching the Seawall

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About the Author

Emily Gosling

Emily joined It’s Nice That as Online Editor in the summer of 2014 after four years at Design Week. She is particularly interested in graphic design, branding and music. After working It's Nice That as both Online Editor and Deputy Editor, Emily left the company in 2016.

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