Animation of Represented Bodies, Between Science and Design Practises

Abstract

Most of today’s design practices focus on complex form, displaying free-form animated surfaces inspired by the complex geometries and structures of the human body. Nonetheless architectural, product and fashion design tend to employ the same representational tools and methods in order to build artifacts which recall the shape of the human body in motion, as subjected to continuous transformation and hybridization processes, in 3D deformable models. The final purpose of the artifact can often be traced back to a single frame of the whole animated sequence, representing the entire design process consisting of continuously morphing of models or, as in the case of Generative design, it is even possible to rebuild the evolutive processes of he form. The paper investigates theories and methods for an eidomatic description of the body by means of a trans-disciplinary analysis of the state of art, testifying the latest trends in 3D animation, also through the documentation of some specific case studies selected by the submitter. The theories and the latest techniques of digital video representation will be compared and analyzed in order to discuss differences and similarities in design practices that have as a main subject not only the body, but also its communication. Representing the body today implies relating to the scientific innovation that often endows it with coexisting integrated technologies and, meanwhile, researches the performance effects of its image, through transformation processes that present innovative and possible communicative scenarios.