A delightfully psychedelic animation by Tel-Aviv-based artist Ori Toor for the track “Little Bugs” by LA-based musician and painter Jeremy Daly (aka Marias). Set to release his debut album, Peace Sign, on June 9th, working with Ori for the video felt like the perfect fit. As Jeremy explained to us:
“I had been a fan of Ori’s for a while and felt there was a strange parallel between his world of moving creatures stranded or suspended in an unknown space and the way the Little Bugs voice comes from that same sort of interior dislocated space. In both Ori’s work and the song I felt a beauty, and expansiveness but also an unknown quality. I feel like the combination of the two brings a more symbolic, psychological reading to Ori’s work — as if this growing creature of the video is a manifestation of the psychological baggage of someone moving through their life or even a representation of the actual metastatic co-dependent relationship the song describes.”
Watch the video above and check out our interview with director Ori Toor below!
Early development of the animation.
Jeff Hamada: You’ve really developed a recognizable style, something uniquely you. Could you talk a bit about how your aesthetic has changed over the years? How have you arrived at what we’re seeing now?
Ori Toor: Thank you! I think It’s just something that happens when you’re in the habit of making art every day for such a long time. I think right now I’m juggling between about three different aesthetics that are all different from one another but still have something in common. The thing that usually forces change to happen is boredom and stress. I try on a style for a while — either get sick of it or maybe I get a feeling it’s not interesting enough for other people and I try something else.
JH: Do you have a strong sense of an Ori Toor universe now? Perhaps things that can exist in it and things can’t?
OT: I think my regular audience has a better grasp of my universe then I do. In a way, everything I do is the result of me trying to answer that question. It never gets clearer over the years. I would love to have a coherent universe, though.
Early development of the animation.
JH: Did you immediately imagine a character sort of plodding along when you first heard “Little Bugs”?
OT: Yes I did. When I heard the lyrics “I don’t know why / She’s walking away” I immediately wanted to do a literal interpretation and focus on a walk cycle.
Walk cycle’s are the hardest thing for me to do. I lack the know how to make a real professional walk. But I find it really fun to just improvise a walk and see what weird broken things my lack of animation skills can come up with (it’s also a good way to describe all of my art lately).
JH: If I had watched this video muted I would have assumed it was matched with some sort of electronic music, but somehow it really fits with this. Were you concerned about matching the overall feel of the music?
OT: The music that I usually use in projects is more beat oriented. When I first heard the song I got a little worried that It might not work. Luckily the human brain has a way of making any animation almost automatically work with music. After some testing I saw there’s no reason for concern. This is the first time I work with an acoustic tune and I’m really glad it fits. It’s such a great song. Been humming it along with my partner for months now.
Early development of the animation.
JH: Yeah, it’s really catchy. What is the song about for you?
OT: For me this is about the meaninglessness of life and the constant process of trying to understand what it’s all about but never quite getting it. It could also be about how sometimes inspiration can be very elusive.
JH: What’s next? What things are you working on these days?
OT: I’m still doing almost daily loops for my Looopism tumblr and my Instagram. These are self contained little art pieces. Also doing some commercial work for money. There’s nothing ahead really. But I can say I dream of doing art for a video game.
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