How does the world work? For several years, Tobias Hulswitt has been asking people to explain the world to him. Buro Achter April has turned one of these theories into an animated short film titled “Undercurrents”. Five other internationally renowned animation artists were asked to interpret some of the other theories by other writers, live at Strzelski Galerie on 23 February 2013. I was one of the artists invited, and each was given a different text to be turned into an illustration. A big thanks to Buro Achter April and the other artists for the great time. The drawing is for sale, please contact the Strzelski Galerie if interested.

This is the paragraph I was given, by Uli Hannemann:

Everything in the universe, whether it’s a comet or a groundhog, is permanently seeking something to hold on to in the midst of chaos – the essential activity of all things in the vast nothingness: the stars seek a stable place in their galaxies, the planets snuggle up to the larger stars like half-starved hookers and the moons buzz around the planets like flies on shit. On the Earth the very same process continues as well: rivers cling desperately to their riverbeds, trees to the ground and animals to some sort of social system. Some animals may do service as pets, trusting their needs and hopes to the allegedly more competent human species – actually the most incompetent one of all. Because unlike animals in the wild, people have a wild fear of death. Like a pitifully whimpering koala bear clinging to a burning eucalyptus tree in fright, people cling to their lives with touchingly stupid futility. In desperation, people clutch at shreds of meaning like war, sports, family, friendship, consumer culture, religion, sweets, drugs or love. All of which inevitably fail them, because they all have one common weakness: each person’s absurd belief in their self-importance, however it’s expressed. For me personally, what helps most has always been alcohol, a remedy I recommend especially to younger folks, and one that I can never praise enough. Actually, the world’s most intelligent animal is the silverfish. With earnest majesty it inches slowly over the floor tiles, raising its wise head now and then for a sniff. Sometimes the silverfish finds food, sometimes shit, or even sometimes a bit of love. But nothing that ties it down with obligations. It doesn’t look for something to hold on to, because it knows that no such thing exists. With a friendly salute it hurries on, carrying the big picture – if not in its head – at least in its heart.

Thanks to the awesome folks at Buro Achter April for organizing this, it was a fantastic experience. Here’s a little clip of the event: