Video: William Kentridge: Drawing the Passing

William Kentridge, born April 28, 1955 is a South African artist best known for his prints, drawings, and animated films. In the video William Kentridge: Drawing the Passing, it shows Kentridge’s process of drawing and making his animated films. It is very different from many animated films that I have seen, as it is done in charcoal and chalk. He begins with sheets of paper and a film camera and constructs 20-30 drawings which are altered many times. He will draw out his first scene, film it, and then erase and redraw certain elements, re-filming it again to create a new sequence.

 

When William Kentridge first started out, he believed that to be an artist, he had to work in oil paint, but he felt most comfortable creating work with charcoal and chalk as his medium. In the end, if he hadn’t chosen this as his medium of choice, he could not have made all of the art that he has created up to this point.         

 

The technique he uses, is a sequence of time and progression. Kentridge begins with an image or key element in mind, but he doesn’t know how it will evolve. He goes with his first impulse even if the final meaning of it is not yet clear at the starting point. In the process of creating a sequence, new ideas are formed and the real work starts when they are being filmed so his process is very quick.

 

William Kentridge, Drawings (video stills) for Stereoscope, 1998-99

 

I find some of his pieces and films to be a little dark or to have a deeper meaning, and although some if his work is not something that would grab my interest, his process of creating, filming, and reworking, does grab my attention. I think his process is key and is a very important part of his work. It’s very different from animation art that we usually see that is created on a computer or is happy and playful, and I think that is what really makes Kentridge and his work stand out.