Julia lighttable5/27/2023 For example, we miss seeing how Lee interacts with his puppets across the multiplanes of plastic layers that make up the light table and how he moves quickly from one end of the table to the other. Unfortunately, we can’t see all the hard work and coordination involved in putting on such an intricate and complex show. The producers recognized this, so from time to time the recorded video presents a square in the corner of our computer screen to indicate how Lee manipulates his puppets and his animation. Simply watching what the overhead camera records from above the light table does not fully capture the mechanical operations of the puppetry. My favorite sequence was seeing words written in multiple languages morphing into stylized paper cutouts of animals that make up each of the twelve houses of the 12-year-cycle zodiac wheel. The slick integration of plasticized paper cutouts and brilliantly-conceived computerized graphics creates an atmospheric that has an ancient feel, yet is very contemporary. In addition to handling all of the puppet movements himself, he plays various Asian-themed musical instruments, such as bells and chimes, to accompany the action. Utilizing a light table, an overhead camera, a computer, and a waterbox, Lee combines digital and live animation in real time. In his performance, Lee captures this race and other myths about the various animals that constitute the zodiac, infusing humor and whimsy in ancient tales surrounding the origins of the lunar calendar and its representation. But at the last moment, the rat cajoled the ox into giving it a ride across a river, and when it subsequently jumped off the ox’s back, the rat became the first animal to win the race. The race was run, and the ox was initially supposed to be the first to cross the finish line. Various mythological traditions indicate that the ox became the second animal in the zodiac as a result of a race of all the animals that was held by a great deity. This is the Year of the Ox according to the Chinese zodiac, and Lee’s show is appropriately themed for the occasion. Thus he relies heavily on a style of Japanese puppetry called kuruma ningyo, which features single-person operated puppets, as distinguished from traditional Japanese style puppetry (Bunraku), where three people manipulate one puppet. ![]() With social distancing requirements creating a challenge, Lee re-figured the show to be a one-man performance. Originally crafted as an ensemble for four puppeteers, “The Great Zodiac Animal Race” had to be re-imagined as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. ![]() His original script is transformed into a uniquely inventive live-streamed event that took place on Friday, February 26, 2021, with a recorded version available for remote viewing on February 28th and March 1st. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★How do we mark the passage of time? Puppeteer Tom Lee explains this in his one-of-a-kind solo puppet show “The Great Zodiac Animal Race” as part of Eighth Blackbird’s Chicago Artists Workshop (CAW) series this past weekend in honor of the Lunar New Year (a/k/a Chinese New Year).
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