AFQ - Todd St.John
I met Todd a few years ago while I was living in NY. We did this project together with Alife, Arkitip and Etnies. After the project we stayed in touch and hung out every so often. At one point we started these Thursday night jam sessions in his house. I’ve always admired his work whether it was his collaborative efforts with Gary Benzel or his hand done animations for MTV and VH1. Todd is an amazing designer and artist and his work is truly inspirational. Enjoy this segment of AFQ
1. Tell us little about the latest art show you just did? Theme or Process
It’s a collection of things from the last five or six years. Most of it is focused on the relationship between a lot of the drawing I’ve been doing over that time, and sculptural experiments that came out of those drawings. Specifically, intersections and collisions of form and means of representation.
2. How did you get your start in motion graphics? Any new project you can tell us about that you are stoked on?
I’ve mainly thought of myself as an animator when it comes to work for video and film. I guess my start was when I was nine or ten. I took a summer school class that taught stop motion using an 8mm camera. I made a claymation piece with a dream sequence. It then switched to real-life footage and I woke up in a lagoon. Pretty bad. I guess the most recent thing to talk about was a piece called ‘Sea Friends’ . It’s a music video of sorts for Yo Gabba Gabba, which is a kids’ show on Nickelodeon. Mason Jennings sang the song and I directed the animation. People don’t realize it if they see a link online, but literally everything in it was built out of wood, painted, photographed and mostly animated in-camera.
3. Do you think our band twinkler and thrasher would of been a big hit?
Totally. I’m still bummed you moved to California just as we were hitting our stride. We could have been the next Eno-Byrne. Or at least the next Ebn-Ozn.
4. Any new unusual or funny story about the twins? (Stella told us about their secret word “mem”).
They don’t really know about candy yet. Stella’s started this thing where we bribe them, and can get four hours of good behavior with the promise of one jellybean. As soon as they realize other kids eat more than one jellybean at a time, we’re toast.
5. If you could give one piece of advice to artists or designers trying to start their careers what would it be?
Even if you have dumb ideas, if you keep at them long enough and with enough conviction, they’ll start to make sense to people. That’s always worked for me.
