As part of the Meaning in Motion project, I created a short, 30-60 second animation of a quote from an artist of my choosing. My palette was limited to black, white, and single accent color. As an avid consumer of Toni Morrison’s work, I decided to dedicate my short to her. I began by brainstorming imagery that would both evoke her work and fit the central quote. Given the historical nature of many Morrison novels, I decided to create a narrative roughly spanning the years between African American enslavement and Morrison’s death. In order to do this, I created a series of figures and environments in Adobe Illustrator, all emphasized by a red similar to the shade on the iconic cover of Morrison’s Beloved. The font I chose was also reminiscent of the swooping, calligraphic title font for Beloved and many modern Morrison editions. Using both imagery and text, I was able to hone in on specific parts of the quote and Morrison’s life—emphasizing an important tradition of storytelling that tied her to both past and future.

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