A crankie–otherwise known as a moving panorama–is a very old storytelling form involving an illustrated or decorated scroll wound around two spools and hand-cranked horizontally, often inside a diorama or other miniature stage-like setting. In the history of cinema, crankies inspired the earliest ‘moving pictures’, and could be as big as an entire theatre stage!
Join me for a studio talk and first showing (!) of a crankie I created through a daily drawing practice in October 2021. I’ll share my process in developing a visual narrative for this time-based art form, including the word prompts that inspired the narrative, character origin stories, and the art materials I fell in love with - or learned to love - as I worked. The talk will be lively and open to questions from the audience throughout, inviting conversation and feedback. The presentation will also inform and inspire a future MMW workshop offering.
This talk is open to all ages!