Abstract

This paper explores“Independent Animation”based on its general defini‐tion，analyzes how Independent Animation has been setup through experi‐ments of the medium and multi‐level criticisim．On the one hand，Independent Animation paved a new way outside of the Hollywood Animation industry；on the other hand，Independent Animation has taken apart from the mainstream industry in a context of dialogue，both of them will adjust the forms and styles in a dynamic process．

Heterogeneity is the nature of this dialogue，most of the Independent An‐imation artists spontaneously experimented using a variety of materials in ani‐mation；and they consciously devoted themselves to the criticism of power dis‐course，questioning the social problems and showing self‐criticism in their art work．This paper regards the experiments and criticism as a dynamic dialogue，and demonstrates how Independent Animation，which is modeled by“Artist as the center”dialogues contrasts with Hollywood Industry，which systematical‐ly focuses on“Producer as the center”．

The experiments of Independent Animation were pushed by motivated forces．In the context of contempary art，the object‐hood of materials was ex‐plored．Clay，glass，sand and almost all kinds of objects were experimented with in the creation of Independent Animation．Claymation，sand animation and object animation work as new forms of animation．At the same time，the experiments were cultivated from the attitude of questioning and criticism．The artists of Independent Animation would not use the medium as a form of mass‐media，instead the created“direct‐animation”，video art and digital art to demonstrate their criticism on film，television and computer．

Independent Animation is a dialogue of experiments and criticisms charged by the artists．The art creation is also a process of exploration and identifying the artist himself／herself．Through the reflection of society and self‐reflection，Independent Animation constructed some new categories such as animated doc‐umentary，setting up a dialogue with history，society and the artists them‐selves．

In the process of breaking through the model of the mainstream，Inde‐pendent Animation will also meet with challenges from itself．The unique forms and categories were created by the Independent Animation masters need to refresh and update．But they will become another kind of power discourse，limiting the creativity of animation education and young artists．

“The secret of writing poems comes from outside the field of poetry．”This saying from poet Lu You from the NanSong Dynasty still stands true to‐day．The dialogue in the field of animation is inspired from cross‐fields and communication from multiple cultures，which keeps Independent Animation paving new ways outside existing boundaries．This paper focuses on the dyna‐mitic elements from all fields and hopes to analyze how they construct the po‐tential possibilities of Independent Animation．

Keywords：Independent Animation；Heterogeneity；Criticism；Dialogue；Medium