Duration: 8’16”
A seemingly horrible scene takes place before the viewer’s eyes: a man sits down at a table and chops off his hand. Horrible, indeed, but less so than it seems. This animation is really about commitment and creativity.
People are able to work with passion if they can rely on their own talents. Belief in one’s own talents gives one power and fervour. But ‘going for it one hundred percent every day’ is far from evident. The success of one’s enthusiasm is often measured one-sidedly: financial gain, press coverage are common criteria, the lack of which is all too often discouraging. This artist, too, sometimes feels depressed and thinks: ‘Enough’.
The man in the clip wants to destroy his artistic tools, his will and commitment, but to his own surprise he sees a new creation in the blood stain. The message is clear: sometimes one just has to go all the way and keep toiling. That is the artist’s fate: creative people cannot be ‘not creative’. The man in the clip goes on: he takes the board and exhibits it with the hundreds of blood-stained boards he has made. While walking back his hand – and his creativity – start growing again. The circle is closed.
Cruel though it may seem, the clip wants to give the viewer a positive feeling: artistic creation is meaningful and gratifying: a new artwork is born, a new hand has grown. The artist himself is surprised when he looks at what his brain thinks up. He feels inspired and is able to see ‘success’ in a broader perspective.
