08/12/2022

Analogue Animation: Turning The Pages Of A Flipbook Machine

5:13 minutes

a hand turns a crank on a small device the size of a napkin, flipping images of a brown moth in flight.
One of J.C. Fontanive’s flipbook machines in action. Credit: Luke Groskin

Brooklyn-based artist J.C. Fontanive is a master of the moving image—but in analogue. As an animator, he creates mechanical, perpetual motion ‘flipbooks,’ with help from old clocks and colorful illustrations of flying birds, butterflies, and other scenes from nature. 

Fontanive joins Ira to talk about the act of invention, the ‘primal’ language of art, and how to create visceral work in a digital age.


Flipbook Fun


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Segment Guests

J.C. Fontanive

J.C. Fontanive is an artist, sculptor, and illustrator based in Brooklyn, New York. 

Segment Transcript

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Ira Flatow is the founder and host of Science FridayHis green thumb has revived many an office plant at death’s door.