Kaboom animation festival’s theme was provocation. We decided to play with the idea of digital vs. analogue. The protest sign is a beautiful expression: a physical representation of your opinion with cardboard, paint and glue! We love and feel connected to this analogue rebelliousness in a world obsessed with digital things.

So! A great opportunity to make performative protest signs. By animating the signs themselves, we play with the idea that messages need movement—literal, visual, emotional—to be felt. The signs become looping GIFs in real space.

These signs were used during the festival opening in Utrecht. A wandering procession carried signs that flipped, flapped, rotated, revealed hidden and ambiguous messages.

After the opening, the signs were exhibited on-site, inviting visitors to check their mechanics and read the slogans up close.

made by michael veerman, mathijs stegink and sjors knol