What was once a royal military barrack in Viborg, Denmark, is now one of the most dynamic animation hubs in Europe. The complex is home to Arsenalet, a campus of more than 30 businesses focused on the visual industries. Every year, it plays host to the Viborg Animation Festival, the biggest event of its kind in the country. At the heart of it all is the cluster of courses and residencies that make up The Animation Workshop (TAW), a school with a consistent track record in interesting, boundary-pushing works.
Almost all of TAW’s bachelor graduation works from 2019 are now online — interestingly, three of them have earned Staff Picks on Vimeo, which indicates that they have caught the Vimeo curators’ attention.
The six films, made by groups of students rather than individuals, make for an intriguing collection. They range across a variety of visual styles, from the cg stop-motion pastiche of Forglemmegei (Forget-me-not), a sweet portrait of a friendship’s final days, to the restless multimedia mash-up of Deepness of the Fry, which meditates on what it means to be original — and whether that’s even a desirable quality.