WORLD ON FIRE
This page contains select materials and visual references relating to World on Fire, the fifth Annual Supernova Digital Animation Festival, presented in 2020 in Denver, Colorado, a challenging undertaking requiring a virtual pivot in response to the global COVID19 pandemic. Supernova was well positioned to handle the impact of Covid19, utilizing the recently developed streaming service supernova.video to present an enhanced slate of content to participants around the world, while still hosting a more limited live presence through the ongoing access to Denver’s robust public LED screen infrastructure. The introduction of spontaneous artist interviews as well as a new partnership with Unity Technologies were key elements in getting through this very trying and difficult year. The results fully showed the strength of the medium as well as the strong devotion and appreciation from a broad and growing international artists network that realized the prominent forum the festival had developed into.
The challenges of the pandemic affected the traditional approach to marketing and representing Supernova that year, particularly with the primary focus of all programming categories being presented through the streaming service. While the platform I designed and implemented through Vimeo’s new option for individualized streaming channels was extremely user friendly and successful, it was also extremely expensive and would also be short lived, our financial resources all but dried up that year due to the pandemic conditions thrust upon all sectors of the arts. If ever there was a year of radical experimentation and creative pivot, it was 2020.
Supernova World on Fire Artists Introduction Video
Probably my favorite undertaking in the history of Supernova.: 2020 WORLD ON FIRE Artists Introduce themselves. This is what you get when you ask over 150 artists from all over the world to send personal introductions describing their work to be shown at the Festival. Supernova 2020 Artists knock it out of the ballpark!
Supernova World on Fire feature program previews
Click on Gifs to see full program teaser
Digital Dialect, Curated by Faiyaz Jafri
Relentless Melt, Curated by Max Hattler
Space Dust, Curated by Snow Yunxue Fu
Supernova 2020 World on Fire Competition Award Winners
Focal Competition Awards
Grand Prize: Sine Özbilge / 21xoxo
2nd Prize: Huckleberry Hax / STOMOL
3rd Prize: Ted Wiggins / Lizard Ladder
Honorable Mention: Tim Ross / The Last Page of Summer
Honorable Mention: Geoff Hecht / Metro6
Honorable Mention: Nick Flaherty / Trepanation
World on Fire Awards
Grand Prize: Maja Gehrig / Average Happiness
2nd Prize: Raquel Meyers / Inattention
Honorable Mention: Favo Studio / Quarantine
Honorable Mention: Molly Murphy / A Hole
Honorable Mention: Sean Capone / THEO TW’AWKI
Director's Choice Award: Kimberly Burleigh / Jealousy
Student Shorts Awards
Grand Prize: Natalie Nichols / Identity Crisis
Honorable Mention: Wyatt Hall & Kaz Fontone - Nearsiders
Honorable Mention: Zibo Xu / TanukiAndTangerine
Gifathon Awards of Distinction
Daniel Maw / Gabe’s Oasis: Iowa City, IA
Eun Bi Chang / Shadows
Greg Doble / The Active Realization of Self in the Mirrored Mind
Supernova Preview World
This video is a simulation of Supernova Digital Animation Festival's live program presentation that took place on the 14th and Champa Screen on Saturday September 19th from Noon - 9:30pm in Denver, Colorado. The simulation was created by Denver Digerati associate and digital guru Ryan Wurst and features samples from all animations selected for programs to be shown across the various programs that constitute World on Fire. Accompanying sound is by Ryan’s music project Always Human Tapes.
Supernova World on Fire Award Winners Acknowledgment Video
A look at who garnered the prestigious awards in the 2020 Supernova Digital Animation Festival WORLD ON FIRE. This was the first year that we composed a video celebrating the festival award winners, as all material was being shared globally through our streaming service. The awards celebration would grow to become a more focal effort for Supernova following World of Fire, a way to better acknowledge the awarded artists than simply listing their names on our website.
Supernova World on Fire Award Call for Entries Video
Supernova’s Competition program is the focal point of the annual festival boasting significant cash prize awards, determined by special guest jurors, who represent the vanguard of the digital motion-art and animation community. Animations selected for the competition are chosen for a variety of reasons including: profound artistry, ambition, boldness, overall resonance or fearless approach to utilizing digital techniques. The competition adheres to no specific genre, but simply represents a well rounded selection of the best of all submissions that display a diverse approach to the field and a strong instinct for the medium. Supernova's Competition program was screened live in Denver, Colorado on Saturday September 19th on the 14th and Champa LED screen.
Supernova World on Fire Silent Screen Initiative
An overview of the prestigious anchor program for Supernova Digital Animation Festival 2020 World On Fire's premiere outdoor art viewing opportunity. Denver Digerati employs Denver’s unique LED screen infrastructure towards a rare art viewing opportunity for the public. The annual Supernova Digital Animation Festival programs are featured on multiple screens, located within a 6-block radius in the heart of the Denver Theatre District, providing a magnificent display of animation for the community. On Saturday, September 19th, five of Denver’s LED screens will be activated from noon through 8pm with digital animations looping throughout the day. These works will be presented without sound as Supernova's Silent Screen Initiative. Over 20 artists from around the world submitted proposals for the opportunity to create animations unique for this format. Silent Screen enhances the attributes of the program and presents a now rare opportunity for the public to safely and responsibly view exceptional art outside of their homes. Denver Digerati provides the ultimate walking tour that reflects how digital animation and motion-art can be integrated with LED display technology in a purposeful, invigorating manner. Start at any of the screens and watch the works unfold, each screen features a wide assortment of animations of varying lengths. This video has a reference to all five of the screens and samples of the animations that were on display.
Like just everything else in the arts in 2020, Supernova festival was impacted heavily by the COVID19 pandemic, yet was one of the only events of the fall still able to present a live public component through ongoing access to Denver’s public LED screen infrastructure. A protective mask was designed by artist Sean Capone, based on his 2020 animation “Molecular Clock,” commissioned by Denver Digerati for Night Lights Denver. The mask was a catalyst to raise funds for the festival offered both online and to patrons during live downtown screenings.
Supernova World on Fire Artist Interviews
The pivot to online presentation and our strong desire to amplify the human artist element that was so prominently featured in previous iterations of the festival led us to embrace a new and exciting concept, that of feature length artist interviews, conducted through zoom. It took a lot of effort to prepare and compose the videos, particularly on a shoe-string budget. I became personally engaged with this phase of the festival, realizing the unique opportunity and major reward in offering a platform for the artists to speak about their work.
Ivar Zeile chats with Corrie Francis Parks, an artist who was part Denver Digerati's very first public screen initiative "Frame of Mind" back in 2011. She returns to Denver screens in 2020 with her latest animation "Foreign Exchange" selected for Supernova 2020 "Director's Choice" program, and also modified from its original format to fit the elongated horizontal frame of the 14th and California LED screen as part of this year's Silent Screen initiative.
Denver Digerati Founder and Creative Director in conversation with artist Joo Young Lee, the Director of "Body Keeps the Score," selected for Supernova 2020's prestigious "Competition" program. Joo Young Lee also contributes the animation "Meondong: Dawning" made for Supernova's Silent Screen program, as well as "The World Is Thin: Terrain" which screens in the program Space Dust, curated by Snow Yunxue Fu. This is the first time in Supernova's history that an artist has works in three separate program categories. Find out how and why Joo Young got there.
A riveting discussion with Sean Capone, previous Supernova competition award winner and the director of "Theo Tw'awki," selected for Supernova 2020 "World on Fire" program. Sean is also one of 10 artists commissioned for Night Lights Denver animations, to be presented on the D&F Clock Tower in Downtown Denver nightly starting September 3rd. The animations will loop each night throughout the month of September.
Jon Portman returns to Supernova in 2020 in the most unique way, with an elaborate animation that reflects on the reality of visual artists and many issues related to intertwining lives. We've selected it as one of 15 works for this year's Competition program, the strongest ever and one that is certain to raise even greater awareness towards the advances being made in all genres of digital animation today.
Huckleberry Hax is a pioneering author focused on the virtual world Second Life, where he has been a resident since 2007. In 2020 he has released his first feature film STÖMOL, shot entirely in Second Life. It's an achievement that seems to defy all notions of what is possible within that context, delivering a beautifully shot, complex narrative that elevates the medium to that of traditional filmmaking, carrying great appeal for cineastes of all tastes. STÖMOL is a standout at this year's Supernova Digital Animation Festival, and one of two feature films accepted for the first time into the festival's focal competition.
Time to discover one of the most exciting entries ever in the history of Supernova Digital Animation Festival. This is history in the making. Denver Digerati Director Ivar Zeile interviews artist Tim Ross, whose work was selected for the Competition program of the 2020 Supernova Digital Animation Festival WORLD ON FIRE. Dive into what Tim has to say about digital animation, art, life, etc.....
Molly Murphy is one of this year's standout emerging artists in digital animation from the US, with an ecstatic debut that packs a punch and is ready to launch next month in Supernova Digital Animation Festival's "World On Fire" program. We were so delighted to grab this interview with her and think you will be too. Make sure to share with your friends who like to be on top of what's fresh and exciting in the real world of entertainment and art.
Heather Crank digs into her history as an artist, time spent in Denver, her life in Bend and other timely topics, including her recently completed commission for Supernova 2020. Heather is one of 10 artists commissioned for Night Lights Denver animations, to be presented on the D&F Clock Tower in Downtown Denver nightly starting September 3rd. The animations will loop each night throughout the month of September. Heather is a huge proponent of creativity, art and how life is not the same without either.
David Bennett is a digital artist, motion designer, and creative director who has participated in Supernova Digital Animation festival since 2018. Drawn to the immediacy and impermanence of the moving image, his work explores hypersaturated visuals that oscillate between abstract and figurative digitized glimpses of daily life and random ephemera. Two of Bennett's latest works will be featured in Supernova's new Everything Abstract Sonic program, one of this year's visually transfixing highlights of this year's festival.