Animating the frenzy of the possible via Internet collaboration and the Super Mario afterlife

Summary: The research found in this paper poses inquiries into postmodern animation in relation to the aesthetic effects of stylistic constraints. I propose that contemporary consumers of animation possess an inherent awareness of the limitations of what can and will be depicted based purely on their knowledge of what is technically possible. Using philosopher Gilles Deleuze's concept of the virtual and striated space, and contemporary theorist Jean-Luc Comolli's understanding of the ways in which technologies are adopted and abandoned, I introduce the idea of the “frenzy of the possible.” This idea pertains to a state wherein a viewer facing a work that adheres to a singular, unified style experiences a level of comfort that is based on limitation. This paper and its accompanying animation Pratfall Origarch are investigations into hybridity that by contrast function primarily through a process of discomforting the viewer. By combining diverse styles such as hand-drawn and computer assisted animation, green-screen live action footage, video game hacking, and more, I have crafted an aesthetic which establishes expectations just long enough to subvert them. In addition to Deleuze’s and Comolli’s concepts, I draw on the importance of community-based online collaboration in the context of a long history and sustained knowledge of gaming. To this end, the Grand Guignol theatre's combination of violence and comedy is contrasted with the modern examples of the Electric Retard webcomic and the animated program Xavier: Renegade Angel. Further to this, the act of playing the video game Super Mario Bros. is reflected upon as a way of demonstrating the striated virtual (a concept developed in this paper), and the role of intuition in learning how to use technology for artmaking. Instability, as a concept and as a method, is both the point of arrival and departure for investigation.