Jake Fried

Adult Swim’s 4 a.m. show devoted to weirdness and animation (the same show that brought us Too Many Cooks), premiered this mind-bending video for Dan Deacon’s ode to death, “When I Was Done Dying.” With the help of nine animators, including The Absolute fave Jake Fried, the epic video goes on a surreal journey through the afterlife. Flowing from one animation style to the next, the video is a sprawling opus that can be watched again and again. We liked it so much, we whipped up a couple of GIFs to highlight how stunning this thing is. Of course, you can watch the video in full below. Don’t forget to check out interviews with each animator via Off the Air’s tumblr.

Continue Reading →

Down Into Nothing might be one of the more intense 60-second segments of your day. Artist Jake Fried, whose background is in painting, created the work as part of a series of captivating and multilayered “moving paintings.” The illustrations, which are fashioned out of “ink, gouache, white-out and coffee,” are captivating in their own right, but it’s the transitions and transformations that actually hold your attention for so long. Fried has a portfolio (including more of the moving paintings) at his rather appropriately named website, inkwood.net.