Jody Zellen – Pandemic Animations

Jody Zellen,
Pandemic Animation, 2 022

Jody Zellen,
Pandemic Animations, 2022

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Simco Drops is pleased to present Pandemic Animations by Jody Zellen, the artist's first NFT series. Pandemic Animations is a presentation of works created during the 2020 global shutdown, where the artist explored themes of isolation, monotony, and unease through her active animation practice. The variations in color, subjects, and fragmented narrative are akin to sketches in the artist's process of creating these works, culminating in a series of 250 animated artworks that capture a collective experience in a unique fashion.

"I think of my animations as digital doodles. They are a meditation on the disconcerting times of the pandemic, as well as a reflection on isolation, nature, urban space, politics and walking. Each short animation features simple shapes and stick figures that when seen together form a larger narrative about the trials and tribulations of life." - Jody Zellen

The 250 artworks will be released en masse on 02/11/2022 at 12:00pm PST to coincide with the artist's solo exhibition at Council_St Gallery in Los Angeles. Each NFT includes a link to the unique MOV video file via the IPFS gateway.

Jody Zellen is a Los Angeles based artist who works in many media simultaneously. She makes interactive installations, app art, net art, drawings, paintings, photographs, public art, and artists' books. She constantly thinks about ways to use new technologies and to integrate interactivity into her artworks. While Zellen's work engages with technology, she also still makes things by hand. To that end, she draws and paints, as well as creates animations and augmented reality experiences.

Zellen received a BA from Wesleyan University (1983), a MFA from CalArts (1989) and a MPS from NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program (2009). Zellen was the recipient of a 2021, 2016 and 2011 City of Santa Monica Artist Fellowship; a 2012 California Community Foundation Mid Career Fellowship; a 2011 Center for Cultural Innovation Artistic Innovation Grant; as well as a 2004 COLA (City of Los Angeles) Fellowship.

Her interactive installations have been on view at the Los Angeles International Airport (2019); Long Beach City College Art Gallery (2017); and at the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art, Charleston, SC (2014). Most recently, she has been making drawings, collages and animations, as well as adding weekly pages to an ever-growing net art project begun at the beginning of the pandemic (March 2020) called "Avenue S."