AFTER CAPITALISM
I believe in alternative ways to engage the public with the news and always wanted to do a animated article which has a powerful impact. I approached The Guardian who was very keen to collaborate on the topic: After Capitalism. I produced and lead a team of animators and writers in collaboration with the Guardian's team to create a series of 6 animated article for their popular websites. The final outcomes have been praised by my peers and the public and The Guardian was absolutely delighted. Watch the 6 films below.
After capitalism: 'There is no reason to wait for revolution. It is here already in each of us’
Author Rebecca Walker outlines a utopian vision of a world after capitalism underpinned by a moral and spiritual revolution. Her words are accompanied by animation from animators John Christian Ferner Apalnes and Jo Baaklini, telling the story of a family and a businessman. Project lead by Esteban Gitton.
After capitalism: 'Transform money and credit into instruments that serve people'
Economics professor Costas Lapavitsas argues that a world after capitalism would see money and credit move from being instruments that reinforce inequality into tools for genuine public service. His argument is accompanied by animation from Dimo Mezekliev and Aizhan Abdrakhmanova, using images from bank notes around the world. Project lead by Esteban Gitton.
After capitalism: 'It is irrational to be obsessed with GDP'
Economist Jayati Ghosh has seven dreams for an ideal society, which would root out inequality but preserve cultural differences. She calls for less focus on GDP growth, and a repurposing of market forces to serve people rather than hold them back. Animation by Thomas Shannon, Will Hazell and Kateryna Kyslitska. Project lead by Esteban Gitton.
After capitalism: 'We will return to the art of discourse'
Decrying the 'lies, lies and damn lies' fed to us by politicians and the media, the writer and broadcaster Darcus Howe imagines a new political vernacular accessible to all. Animation by Alexandre Do and Tezo Kyungdon Lee, who have taken inspiration from Plato's cave allegory to form the narrative. Project lead by Esteban Gitton.
After Capitalism: 'In the anti-worlds of daily struggles the world beyond capitalism is to be found'
Marxist sociologist John Holloway argues that a world after capitalism is already being imagined in struggles around the world. In the first of a six-part series, which will see an author's words accompanied by animation by animators Carolina Aguirre, Lucas Gloppe and Magnus Lenneskog interpret Holloway's words. Project lead by Esteban Gitton.
After Capitalism: 'In the anti-worlds of daily struggles the world beyond capitalism is to be found'
Marxist sociologist John Holloway argues that a world after capitalism is already being imagined in struggles around the world. In the first of a six-part series, which will see an author's words accompanied by animation by animators Kelly Cho, Vittoria Belly and Ana Luisa Lolosidis interpret Holloway's words. Project lead by Esteban Gitton.
The brief:
Capitalism is in crisis. Or so the masthead of the Financial Times read earlier this year. Almost four years after the global market crash that, in Newsnight economics editor Paul Mason's words, have “ended the period of capitalist realism”, it has become both important and necessary to imagine an alternative. The Guardian has invited a diverse range of writers, philosophers, critics and economists to think about this question, and in collaboration with students from Central St Martin's art college, will turn their thoughts into a series of animations that will run on the Guardian website over the summer.
Writers:
“Now that it seems to be accepted that capitalism is incrisis we want to encourage people to start thinking aboutalternatives. To that end, we would like the contributors to thisanimation series simply describe what they think a world aftercapitalism would look like. You can be as utopian or as down to earthas you like – while bearing in mind the idea is to animate the talk,so concrete thoughts are perhaps better than very abstract ones.In practical terms, what we’re after is a short written article,around 550 words, which we would need to you to record as a piece ofaudio. We will thenpass it to a group of St Martins students to animate. It’s going toform part of a series here that we know will command a large amount of attention online.”
Animators:
The Guardian supplied me withwith the audio of six contributors – the recordings will last between 3-4 minutes and would like you to animate their responses. We're not looking for all six responses to have the same style, in fact it's better if each of them are distinguished from each other, even though the authors are responding to the same question. Remember, these films will be for a generalist audience on the Comment is free site so they need to be relatively easy to understand.
Who are the authors?
John Holloway – a Marxist philosopher based at the Autononous University of Puebla, Mexixo.Jayati Ghosh – one of the world's leading development economists at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in India.
George Monbiot – Guardian columnist and environmental and political activist.
Darcus Howe – cultural critic, broadcaster and previous member of the British Black Panther movement.
Costas Lapavitsas – socialist economist and lecturer at School of Oriental and African Studies
Rebecca Walker – US based feminist author.