Ode to the Mixtape

Creating a Meaningful Display with Motion Graphics

During the 2023 Festival of W, Wagga Wagga City Council organised and presented 16 days of local arts, food and culture for locals and visitors to the region. I was approached by the council to create a standalone piece of projection art to be featured on the face of the Museum of the Riverina, displayed for the full 16 nights of the festival.

The brief for this project was to create an animation to fit the location and appeal to a 30-40 year-old audience, but still be accessible to the wider community. Making the most of the open-ended brief, I used 2D animation to share some of my own experiences.

Ode to the Mixtape is an enchanting light art projection that celebrates the joy of sharing music to create connections and evoke emotions. I drew inspiration from my childhood memories recording and sharing mixtape cassettes, exploring the power of music to connect, transcend, and ignite the imagination. With digital illustration, motion design and frame-by-frame animation, the work aims to complement and transform the existing architecture of the museum and take the audience through a sequence of scenes representing a range of musical experiences.

By using my own experiences in the narrative, it was my hope that Ode to the Mixtape would offer something unique to the viewer and resonate more directly with the 30-40 year-old demographic. The display, as a feature in the Festival of W, created an exciting night-time attraction and I’m grateful for the opportunity to share some of my own inspiration.