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TARYN MCLAUGHLIN, CLASS OF 2002
By Valerie Sarnicole

Taryn McLaughlin has worked for digital artist, Uri Dotan for 2 years doing 3D animation and previsualization, video editing, and photography. Currently, she is employed at Anatomical Travelogue, Inc., where her work incorporates 3D animation, modeling and texturing for scientific visualization. She received a Support & Service Award and an Academic Achievement Award in 2002 from the Computer Art Department.

“I like 3-D because you can create an entire piece by yourself without a big budget. Self-sufficiency is a major goal for me.”

The artistic process has layers, "Sketches and scribbles always come first. When the idea is still hot I sit down and spew my brain onto some paper. This helps me realize the most important elements I need for the project. Then I'll shape it into a time-based format - deciding what order to release the elements. I'll create an animatic (an animated storyboard) with proxy models and keep building and refining it until it becomes the final piece."

Music is also important though not in a specific genre." I like music that I can listen to and create a whole story out of. The Pixies, Jega, Godspeed, You Black Emperor and Mum do it for me. I like the kind of music that makes me want to make music videos.”

“There's something about music that I want to bring into my art - that it can come in so many different forms, but when it's good you just know."

Remembering to have fun is as essential as working. "Wandering either on foot or inside my head is my biggest time-wasting hobby. I also like to have circular discussions on politics or philosophy over drinks. If I need to be inspired I go to a gallery or a movie, or I go out with friends and let them talk, or I visit those places where I can feel the energy and just absorb it. It's important to know what's happening in the world whether or not it's directly related to art."

The story of Taryn's stunning thesis has emotional complexity. "Without Sustain is a section of a larger story about a girl that's dying of bone cancer. She's too young to understand the disease, but she's seen the X-rays of the tumor on her pelvis and she knows that's what is making her sick. The part I animated is a dream she has while inside of a MRI scanner (hence the tunnel and the machinery noise). She's running from her cancer, which her dream has transformed into a spiny pelvis-headed dragon. When she finally confronts it, they make a connection. She recognizes the dragon is a part of her and embraces it. She walks out of the tunnel with a new sense of hope and self-love. Whether she lives or dies is not important to me, what's important is that she no longer thinks of her body as an enemy."

A major challenge with this project was to express the character's feelings without dialogue. "Once I decided I wanted to start in the middle of the story with no explanations, I knew I'd have to orchestrate it like a ballet - using gestures and timing to tell the whole story. It was great practice for me as an animator."

Taryn has found working at ATI great because she is learning new things every day. "The medical stuff I have been researching has actually affected my personal work. I'm learning more about the human anatomy which has improved my life drawing, and I'm working on a series of drawings that were inspired by photographs of human embryos."

By creating a popular alumni e-mail list Taryn hasn't lost touch with friends since graduating. “It was vital to me, for two reasons--I was painfully shy before I came to SVA so the friends I made here are some of my first. Also, I couldn't have come this far without the solidarity of my class. The class of 2002 really came together in the end, and as a result our finished products were a big step up from previous years. I hate the competition I see in the art world. Working together on projects and sharing ideas and techniques makes us stronger as artists.”

“The field of computer art requires teamwork, not competition.”

The mindset that an artist needs to have varies because "every artist is different. I believe that an understanding of our past and present gives one's art a better foundation, and will probably give it more meaning for art historians."

“It all comes down to madness, giving up large portion of your brain to something that you know, you just know, is something that you need to make.”

The need for personal freedom to grow extends even to education.

“You have to work hard, but it doesn't need to be the way they tell you to at school. If you know you need to skip a class so you can study squirrel behavior at the park then do it. You're not in school to graduate, you're there to learn.”

Clearly, the emphasis needs to be whatever it takes to keep work vibrant. Works such as Sperm and White Blood Cell show a tone that is beautifully scientific and Lee and Lee 2 are more intimate. "They say an artist must stick to one style in order to be recognized, but in that case I'm fine with being unknown. The mood depends on the subject that I'm describing. I can make my voice soft or hard, depending on the message I'm trying to communicate. The same holds true for my art."

for more infortion:

Taryn McLaughlin
http://taryn.fallingforward.net (No www.)
Click on the thumbnails to see animations.

Uri Dotan:
http://www.aec.at/festival2002/program/programm_biopage.asp?pid=4608

Anatomical Travel
http://www.anatomicaltravel.com