Ryan Plaisance’s colourful patchwork animation of looping lines and shapes

Mississippi-based Ryan Plaisance’s animation See Ya Later is a whirling patchwork of lines and shapes. Each kaleidoscopic loop has been created by drawing shapes on a cintiq, frame by frame at 15 fps using TV Paint (a French animation programme). Through these tools Ryan creates a wonderful smoothness to the three-minute film, which becomes hypnotic as these loose forms spill and cascade into each other. 

“I started with one shape or line that I then animated into a looping motion, stacking on more shapes that were informed by the first until I was happy with it,” says Ryan. “I repeated that process until I had about 15 loops.”

Originally the animator had no intention of making it a film, rather the loops started life as his senior graduation project at KCAI in Kansas, where students were asked to display their work in a gallery space. The idea to make it into a film occurred a month or so later when Ryan discovered DeeDee Mayo’s music on Soundcloud. “His songs were the perfect audial conduit for the feelings I wanted to express and I’m really glad he let me use the music in the film.” 

It’s easy to see Ryan’s evolving loops sitting comfortably within a gallery context, and it’s an idea he was to keep doing in the future. “I think it’s still a goal worth pursuing. I believe more galleries should house animation, I regret not reaching out to the local studio spaces in Kansas City while I was there.”