Pod Director Luca Paulli revealed his latest design and animation for his fictional brand Ugrow this week. We caught up with him to find out more about it and see how the launch went..
PP: So Luca what exactly is Ugrow?
LP: UGROW is a
fictional brand I created, it's a pill that gives you extendable arms. This idea then evolved into a campaign titled ‘Things you can do with extendable arms’ in a
series of short animations illustrating some of the things you can do.
PP: Where did the inspiration come from?
LP: The inspiration came from author Nicola Barker saying that ‘ we live in a sociatey of spectacles’. She argued that we define our power and status through acts of consumption and excess under the guise of having fun. At the same time I read that, I had an idea for a series of animations where the characters where doing funny and silly things with extendable arms. The two things clicked together and I decided to explore the concept Barker is talking about, using animation. I want to provoke a reflection on our society and look at how we define ourselves through our behaviour.
There is a duality in each character action that should make the audience raise some questions. Are they really enjoying what they are doing? Is it making them happier?
PP: The woman playing Table Tennis is interesting, she is the only one using her arms to replace another person, is there more to her than meets the eye?
LP: Yes, the woman playing table-tennis on
her own is funny at first, but I want people to wonder why does she do it? Doesn't she
have anyone to play with? Maybe she doesn't like to lose? Or she is using
a highly encoded language to tell the audience that she wants to be seen as
unique and so she puts on a show.
PP: You have three animations so far, are you going to add more to the series?
LP: Absolutely. I have a lot more ideas and I will release them regularly on social media, on the Ugrow Facebook page, and Instagram and Twitter. I want to start a conversation with people and see what they would do and maybe make some of their suggestions.
PP: Did you have any suggestions from your guests at your Private View?
LP: Yes! People had some very funny and unusual suggestions:
PP: You can check out Ugrow and keep up to date with Luca's animations for things you can do with extendable arms at Ugrow.me and @HelloUgrow
