Etching

Short Animations on the 'A Brief Introduction to the Curios Movement of the Giraffe and it's Mechanics'

Introduction to Movement

Drinking Water

Mechanics and Blood Pressure

Fighting

 

Nuchal Ligament

 

For this project I chose to focus on a giraffe skeleton from the Oxford Natural History Musem. At first I concentrated my research on doing as many first had drawings as possible to get away from visual cliché's, I based the aesthetic of the GIFS on these drawings. Though the rich cultural and mythological background was tempting to work on, I decided to make my animations explain the physical movement's of the giraffe, as the mythology of the animal is behind it's extraordinary physique. Even in the fields of science, Giraffe's have a mysterious reputation. Creationist's use the giraffe as an example for the existence of god as it's physiology is so complex they believe that it could not be possible by means of 'natural selection' or 'evolution', whereas Darwin used the giraffe as a key animal to explain his theories. More recently, the theory of sexual selection has been discussed using the image of a giraffe, explaining that due to sexual preference the neck has elongated over time. The evolutionary process behind the animal has resulted in unique body mechanisms and habits. Thus, it made sense to focus on the facts behind extraordinary physical elements and movements of the giraffe as this is what is responsible for the mythology of the creature.

The audience for this is 12 years, as there seems to be a very natural curiosity at this age, thus the topic seemed appropriate. 

Firsthand study of giraffes

Observational drawings from Pit Rivers Museum