Humans Build The Biggest Nests (HBTBN) is a giant ecological flipbook. This animation-installation has been displayed at:
Etobicoke Civic Centre Art Gallery, Toronto, June 6 - July 6, 2023, as part of the group exhibition “OME: Object Material Experience”
Sweaty Eyeballs Animation Festival, Baltimore, Oct. 5-8, 2023
Planet In Focus International Environmental Film Festival, Toronto, Oct 22, 2023
Nuit Blanche Toronto, Via Velo Space, 15 Merchant’s Wharf, Toronto, Oct 5-12, 2024. More info here: https://www.toronto.ca/explore-enjoy/festivals-events/nuitblanche/all-art-projects/?project_id=4e39d288-43df-4b9d-a6c9-5109c8bb6cec#location=&lat=&lng=&zoom=
This artwork combines animation-storytelling with ecological education, and engages audiences of all ages. It’s available for temporary installation or acquisition. Please contact me for details.
UPDATE: HBTBN is also a 4-minute animated film, screening at international festivals. Scroll down for more details…
Artist’s Statement
Please touch this artwork.
Brush your hand along the pages to see connected stories come to life. Choose your path among the geese, humans, invasive Phragmites plants, white-tailed deer, bacterial disease, dandelions, carp, mice, pine trees, turkey vultures, a tick, turtle, and spider. How do these companion species and “nuisance animals” overlap?
Humans Build The Biggest Nests refers to our oversized impact on ecosystems. On a planetary scale, this is known as the Anthropocene. The creatures in these drawings morph, eat, grow, build, raise young, and interact in dangerous and peaceful ways, locating humans within nature, not outside it.
There are 532 drawn frames, 232 cards, and 78 possible routes. Can you find: a hungry deer, strangled native plants, a confused turtle, impatient cars, a destructive child, a travelling tick, and a restored, biodiverse wetland?
Following one of the 78 possible routes.
This video documents the interactive-touchable concept behind the "Humans Build The Biggest Nests" flipbook project.
Humans Build The Biggest Nests (Film Version)
Duration: 4 min, Drawn Animation, 16:9 (1.77:1) HD Widescreen, No Dialogue. Completion date: May 24, 2024
Short Synopsis: What are "Nuisance Animals"? What are "Companion Species"? Alone and together, their stories are revealed through overlapping spotlights.
Long Synopsis / Director’s Statement: Born from a large-scale interactive flipbook, Humans Build The Biggest Nests is a film describing the complex relations of species in the Anthropocene. Combining loose drawings and crisp circles, the looping narratives are linked through conflict and collaboration. By overlapping the activities of humans, Canada Geese, invasive Phragmites plants, white-tailed deer, squirrels, dandelions, ticks, trees, bacterial disease, turtles, mice and turkey vultures, our entanglement and outsized impact on ecology is clear.
Credits: Story, Direction, Animation, Design, Production: Isaac King. Music: Bram Gielen. Sound Design/Mix: Isaac King. © Isaac King 2024
Film Screenings to date:
Ottawa Int’l Animation Festival, Canada, Sept. 25-30, 2024
Curtocurcuito, Santiago de Compostela, Spain, Oct. 1-6, 2024
Below are 3 downloadable film stills.
