SO, after a very long and scientific process of searching random artist names on Google Images, I finally came across a guy whose art I think is simply amazing. He’s a man by the name of Bang-Yao Liu. He specializes in stop motion, a form of animation in which the animator makes physically manipulated objects appear to move on their own. He was a student at Savannah College of Art and Design, where he made the first of his works I plan to share with you, Deadline.
This stop motion video was Liu’s senior project at Savannah College of Art and is quite possibly my most favorite of his works. In the description of the video, Lui states that his goal with this project was to incorporate both the actor and the post-it notes through interactions between the two.
Sticking to the whole idea of post-it notes (pun entirely intended) let’s move onto my second favorite of Lui’s works, Sticking Close to You.
This project was a continuation of his previous, however, instead of taking place in a singular location indoors, Sticking Close to You takes place outside and was filmed in 11 major cities around the world over the span of 40 days. These cities include Tokyo, London, Miami, Rome, Taipei, Rio de Janeiro, Paris, Budapest, New York, Shanghai, and Frankfurt.
Though perhaps not quite as entertaining as his two previously mentioned works, Lui’s Plastic City is certainly just as creative. The city is supposed to be based on Shanghai.
As far as being like the stuff we make in 3D Design goes, this is probably the closest of any of Lui’s works. He states 2 things that really grab my attention in the video. The first is when he states that before he even starts building the city, all he has is a rough impression, preferring to think it out and evolve his work as he’s building it. I think this proves an important point that you can start off with a basic idea of what you want to make, in this case Lui’s city, while still allowing the material room to do its own thing. The second thing he mentions that stuck out to me is when he states that he wishes the city could magically grow bigger so he himself could walk around in it. I’m pretty sure all of us have had moments like that at some point or another, most likely when we were kids. I certainly remember building things with LEGOs and such, wishing that I could shrink down and play with them.
The next of Lui’s works I’d like to share with you is his stop motion video called Taiwan Centennial Event.
In this video, Lui basically just takes the photographs of a bunch of random people holding the Taiwanese flag and compiles them into a video so that it looks like you’re going on a tour through Taiwan. There’s not much more to it than that. It’s just cool to see all the different places in Taiwan.
Next we have the Social Media League. This one’s pretty straight forward.
Lui’s also helped make music videos for a couple of Chinese bands. I viewed 2 in total. The first mostly sticks with his primary talent for stop motion, while the second used a more cartoony, sketch-type style. And while the music in the videos might not be the best (especially the second one), Lui’s animations make them both all the more enjoyable.
And last but not least, Lui’s also helped make food commercials for a couple of people. I warn you though, watching this may result in a severe case of the munchies.
Jonathan Robinson