Quest for Fire is the result of two years of theoretical and studio-based research
on the current status of animation and its possibilities as a contemporary art medium.
This project brings to life the notion of expanded animation: work that challenges
established understanding of moving imagery through the use of installation and live
performance. Quest for Fire takes on the moving image as its subject matter, drawing
parallels between animation at the start of the twenty-first century—a medium in
flux—and its eclectic historical origins. Using fire as a metaphor for animation, this
project strips down the moving image to its simplest elements and explores thematic
connections with technology, the control over time, magic and illusion. Quest for Fire
creates an expanded experience of animation, one that is intrinsically linked to a
singular time and space as it was at animation’s inception in the 19th century.