Defying Physics

WRITTEN BY AUSTIN KLUBENSPIES

ANIMATIONS BY BAILEY SULCER

Balloons pop, ice cream melts and basketballs bounce. While these concepts of objective physicality are all extremely apparent to us — taken for granted, if you will — we often find ourselves imagining a world in which these simple physical aspects of life are nonexistent. What would it look like if a chair was made of water, or an ocean of metal? How would these newly defined objects break away from reality? Even though we can’t recreate these imaginative characteristics in real life, motion media artists around the globe are twisting the physics of everyday objects for our comedic pleasure. Social media is exploding with high-contrast and hyper-realistic digital creations that bring our dreams to life.

World-renowned animation studio Mainframe embraced this concept with a short one-minute video compilation comprised of everyday objects redefined by new physical properties. “For Approval,” posted on Mainframe’s Vimeo account, includes lightbulbs squishing together as if they are made of plastic, a towel rushing out of a faucet like water and pencils blowing in the wind. While the animation only includes minimal detail and simplistic audio, it engages the audience in a humorous manner by playing with everyone’s minds. What you expect isn’t quite what you get.

Thus, we thought we would give this concept a shot. Bailey Sulcer, a fourth-year motion media design student, created her own versions of this abnormal reality. We could tell you all about it, but we don’t want to spoil the surprise. Want to watch the video above in augmented reality? Simply download the Roar augmented reality app and scan the video frame above. You can also scan the QR code in the corner of the frame to watch it on scadscan.com. Welcome to a world of duality — where fantasy is the new reality.