Inspiration and Education
The Animation Decathlon is an original new project conceived by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Arts Service uniting visual arts, animation, sports and new media to provide opportunities for local residents and visitors to get involved in and be inspired by London 2012. The London 2012 Inspire mark has been awarded to the Animation Decathlon project. This award recognises outstanding projects and events helping deliver the Games’ lasting legacy.
This project has given a number of young people in the schools of Kensington and Chelsea the chance to learn new skills, gain accreditation, work alongside professional artists and see their work showcased on a high profile public platform as part of the London 2012 cultural programme. The drawings and animations they produced were then sent to animators, software programmers and sound designers from Quadratura to be transformed into articulated figures and integrated with game pads to create a spectacular Animation Decathlon interactive installation at Kensington Town Hall on the 21 March 2009.
Quadratura are also producing a short film of this process which will be up on the website once completed.
Finale event
The Animation Decathlon finale event on 21 March will provide a fantastic and unifying experience for people of all ages and backgrounds to come together and be part of a unique arts installation which combines cutting edge architectural projections, outdoor video gaming and original sound design in the courtyard of Kensington Town Hall.
The event will involve animated athletes and crowds created by the children and young people being projected several metres high onto Kensington Town Hall and surrounding buildings where they will sprint, pole vault, and swim across the sides of the buildings transforming the Town Hall into an ‘Olympic’ arena.
Take Control
Audiences will be able to participate in the event and become part of the installation through the use of specially adapted banks of game pads positioned along the walls of the courtyard which will enable them to control the movements of the animated athletes and compete against each-other in the Animation Decathlon.
Play in public spaces
The Animation Decathlon seeks to explore the social possibilities of outdoor pervasive gaming – to allow people the license to play in public spaces, to present innovative new technology in an accessible and exciting way and to transform civic spaces and develop the role of a Town Hall as a shared space for communities to meet, participate, learn and share new and inspirational experiences.
Thinking about the future
Following the event on Saturday 21 March 2009, we hope to scale down the installation to develop it as an interactive touring exhibition which will travel around schools, youth and community centres across London. This will provide further opportunities to showcase the work produced by participants in the project, educate young people about career routes into creative industries and inform residents about ways to get involved in and make the most of opportunities arising from the London 2012 cultural programme