DAVID FIRTH

After the group critique, Jess suggested that I research the cartoonist David Firth as she felt his bizarre and often disturbing animations would fit in well with my project. This was a very helpful suggestion as I found a lot of interesting features of his work that tie in well with my theme of dark narratives. Whilst discussing the artist with Mike and Emily, Mike suggested I watch his "Black and White Cartoon" series.

Although the piece is not obviously humorous, I found myself laughing uncomfortably during moments of these pieces. Firth always achieves a reaction from his audience, and I believe that may be the aim of his mostly disturbing pieces. This reminds me of my Heart Eater comic and some of the repulsed reactions I received from readers in my class as the ending and themes of the story weren't as "positive" as they had expected.

I remember watching this internet series of animations titled "Salad Fingers" by Firth whilst I was much younger. My friends and I would squeal and cringe at the actions and behaviour of this creepy character and the memory of it has stuck with me. Firth does well to induce a reaction in his audience and create an almost haunting memory with his characters and dark themes. I think this is much more effective than creating something "safe" or "family friendly" as it shows little exploration of the dark corners of the imagination that exist, and mostly results in something bland and very easily forgotten.

By exploring controversial themes of mental illness and generally not-very-"Disney" characters, this cartoonist creates animations that people will discuss, share and react to.

To help my work progress I think it may be necessary to not focus on things that are visually appealing or safe and to move onto more graphic and experimental imagery, such as is seen in David Firth's own work.