Jake Fried‘s artwork is like taking a visual trip on your own thought process. On solitary days, when you are alone to allow your brain synapses to explore their own pathways, you can take yourself on the most complex mental journeys, passing through places you didn’t know existed in your mind, places that make you question your sanity before you end up somewhere either reassuring or frightening. When I was treeplanting, alone in the bush for hours on end, I would travel through my experiences like I was on a train, watching the landscape of my weird brain pass me by in a blur, trying not to judge myself for what I saw. That is what Jake Fried’s minute-long, hand-drawn animations remind me of, as he layers image upon image with his mediums of ink, gouache, white-out and coffee, his pictures spewing and whirling around his ever-changing subjects. The transformation is constant and never-ending, so that when one animation ends, you feel that it is the death of an electric world that could have looped forever. The soundtracks are the buzzing static of the human brain, a repetitive sound punctuated with ringing tones, both caustic and relaxing at the same time. He is currently mentoring kids in animation for “Experiments in Animation,” a Community Arts Initiative project at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston – you can see him speak on 6/18 at the MFA. Check out his animations below.
Raw Data from Jake Fried on Vimeo.
Headspace from Jake Fried on Vimeo.
The Deep End from Jake Fried on Vimeo.
Down Into Nothing from Jake Fried on Vimeo.
Sick Leave from Jake Fried on Vimeo.
Waiting Room from Jake Fried on Vimeo.
