Five “I wish I had done that” projects to keep you inspired (and envious)

While it’s always fun to hear about an amazing feat of creativity, the kind of project which takes well-honed skill, a mammoth production or straight-up genius, we can all agree that sometimes they leave you feeling a tad envious. And it’s safe to say we’ve left Oval Space after many a Nicer Tuesdays wondering how on earth someone managed to pull off such an incredible project, wishing we had been involved in some way.

Today, we’ve collated five talks (from a choice of many, many more) which left us feeling exactly that way. From an animated tapestry for the 2018 World Cup, to an iconic Bonobo music video, here’s a selection of Nicer Tuesdays talks which should hopefully get you excited to be back in the studio soon.

Oscar Hudson

The video for Bonobo’s No Reason by Oscar Hudson was, incredibly, filmed entirely in-camera using no CGI – just very clever set-building and direction. At Nicer Tuesdays, Oscar showed the intricate detail to which the 18-layer, “shrinking” set was created, including 18 plants of gradually decreasing size, and revealed some secrets to the process.

Nicos Livesey

Animation director and one of our Ones to Watch 2017 Nicos Livesey is never one to make a job easy for himself. His most recent work, a promotional spot for the BBC’s coverage of the 2018 World Cup, displays his most extravagant work to date, fully embroidered frame-by-frame. A lengthy process made up of 600 frames, an enthusiastic team and many sleepless nights, Nicos created one of the most talked-about World Cup promos to date.

Anna Ridler

Anna Ridler is an artist based in London and a graduate from the Royal College of Art. For her talk, Anna delved into her ongoing research around tulips and the “tulip mania” that swept the Netherlands and much of Europe in the 1630s and her resulting works: Mosaic Virus, Myriad (Tulips) and Bloemenveiling.

Random International

Dev Joshi, head of technology at Random International, takes the audience through the development of its recent performance +/ - Human, a collaboration with Wayne McGregor at The Roundhouse. Involving a swarm of autonomous, flying spheres that move collectively, the project is algorithmically driven and react to its surroundings and, sometimes, to people within its environment.

Weirdcore

Designer Weirdcore treats us to a rare insight to his visuals for Aphex Twin. Using live generated elements combined with trippy and intense pop culture imagery manipulated in real time, what Weirdcore puts on the screens is both mind and retina warping.