The computer animation "Maxwell's Demon" by James Duesing is the story about animal-like creatures locked away in a reserve, fighting for their freedom which they only gain when disaster strikes their home.


"Maxwell's Demon" is conceptually a follow-on from the hand drawn animations I have been producing, but technically I have redirected myself to create a completely computer- generated work. Great attention to surface details and colour, reflects the complex social structures in which characters eke out an existence shaped by their culture.

"Maxwell's Demon" is the story of animal-like characters who have been corralled on an industrial reservation as their world economy shifted to one of information and service basis. The reservation is built on a polluted lake which is a tourist attraction. Locals run souvenir stands selling plastic things (frisbees, hula-hoops and such) as remnants of their past industrial culture. When the last living fish commits suicide because of bad water conditions, it sparks a confrontation between Fashionette and Maxwell, the one-armed owner of the reservation's largest boutique. During the course of the argument, the lake more or less accidentally gets set on fire, freeing the inhabitants of the reservation, but destroying their home in the process. Fashionette begins to plan a new life for herself and the reservation, but no one knows how to begin to put out a large scale chemical fire.

This animation project is not a traditional cartoon, but rather, a lushly drawn series of moving images with characters that have cartoon-like attributes, but live in a world that is less forgiving and more complex than the Warner Brothers' ideal. Trying to combine knowledge and naivety, this work is often a humorous look at the human condition that holds deeper meaning for those willing to explore beneath the surface. The process of carrying out an animated project is an involved one, usually developed over the course of several years. I spent the first year of this project on "preproduction" of the components of the soundtrack. After eight months of creating the motion extremes for the characters and the environments, I began the actual animation and transfer of images to tape. The "inbetween" time allowed me to finely tune the techniques I initiated in creating the extremes, while exploring new and innovative ways to create computerised movement. On the tape you will notice that the complexity and density of the movements increase as the project progresses. The entire film took three and a half years to complete.
(James Duesing)

Technical background:

HW: IBM PC AT with Cubicomp, Graphics Work Station
SW: True Color Animation

James Duesing (USA) is an animator and video artist who lives and works in Cincinnati, Ohio. His work has been exhibited widely in over a hundred international festivals and exhibitions. He is currently Assistant Professor at The University of Cincinnati in Electronic Art. His work is distributed by The Museum of Modern Art Circulating Film Library, and, Expanded Entertainment, among others, and has been internationally televised in the United States and throughout Europe.