Press Release from Explore-At-Bristol
Wallace and Gromit will join a host of other Aardman favourites at a new GBP 400,000 animation exhibition set to open at the popular Harbourside attraction, Explore-At-Bristol, on 18 July.
The interactive exhibition called Animate It! has been developed in association with Aardman Animations and will allow visitors to create their own animations and broadcast them via a new interactive website.
As with many exhibitions within At-Bristol, the majority of the work is being carried out by At-Bristol's Exhibitions and Workshop team, with various artefacts and props on loan from Aardman, including a set from their latest animation, A Matter of Loaf and Death.
Dan Bird, Exhibitions Director at At-Bristol, said: "This is a really exciting exhibition for us and a great follow-on from the previous success of Animated Adventures in 2004. Animate It! has given us lots of scope to try out new technology, such as visitor recognition, giving the visitor the opportunity to continue to work on their own animations from home, via our Animate It! website.
He adds: "It's been great working with Aardman to create what will be the first interactive exhibition of it kind. We hope to create the feel of a real-life animation studio, which will encourage visitors to experience the magic of animation for themselves -- who knows, we may even help to inspire the next Nick Park!"
The idea behind Animate It! is that it will be totally accessible and engage people of all ages and abilities. Parts of the exhibition will have low animation work pods for younger children so they too can have a hands-on go at animation.
There will be facilitators on-hand to help use the animation pods and encourage more adventurous ideas for those ready to stretch their creative skills.
Special claymation classes, using modelling clay to create models, will be on offer at various times via bookable sessions and Meet the Animator sessions will take place to give people direct access to professional animators.
David Sproxton, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman at Aardman, said, "We are delighted to be a part of this exciting and innovative new exhibition, which we hope will inspire and enthral budding animators in the South West. It's great to see how hard the At-Bristol team has worked to create an interactive experience which is really the first of its kind, and should engage and excite everyone who attends."
Animate It! has been supported by the South West Regional Development Agency, Sony, Adobe and Smith & Williamson.
Visitors to At-Bristol have the chance to test out some of the prototypes of the first Animate It! exhibits over the next few months. The testing phase will last until July and will be carried out on an ad-hoc basis.
For more information on At-Bristol's latest exhibitions visit www.at-bristol.org.uk, or call 0845 345 3344.
