Introducing Tara Clune

This is a post by JBFC Spring 2015 Emerging Artist Fellow Tara Clune

While studying abroad in New Zealand, I simultaneously had the complete misfortune and good luck of registering for a Computer Graphics class. I was interested in writing animation software and was studying Computer Science at Columbia University with the dream of one day making it big on a Research & Development team, preferably somewhere small and cozy like Pixar or Weta. What can I say? I dream small. We had two assignments: model a pen and write your own ray-tracer. No big deal. One fine morning at 4 am, I had the realization that actually creating my own worlds and stories is a lot more fulfilling than creating software. This epiphany came to me in a stress dream during a power nap where Wall-E and King Kong told me to “go forth and animate stuff,” which in hindsight seems a bit questionable, but I went with it. And while I still occasionally nerd out to news from Siggraph or read papers about wet hair simulation and think “what if?” I’ve never regretted switching sides.

Upon my return from Middle Earth, I began taking classes at NYU studying Digital Filmmaking and launched a career as a Motion Graphics Designer and Animator. As a Mt. Kisco resident and Westchester native, I am unspeakably happy to join the Jacob Burns Community as the Valentine and Clark Emerging Artist Fellow for the Spring 2015 semester. I’ll be TA-ing for a few classes and making my very own animated short film. So if you see a girl lurking somewhere in the Media Arts Lab, either on her computer talking back to After Effects or reading Harry Potter for the twentieth time, that’s me! Come say hi!

If you’re interested in checking out some of my work, last summer I had the pleasure of working on a music video for the band Trumpeter Swan with director Jeremy Phillips. The graphics in the video were inspired by the work of Italian artist, Maurizio Anzeri, who embroiders directly onto vintage photographs. I created designs for video portraits of actors shot for the music video and found vintage photographs. The music video was released on ew.com this past week and you can read the article and check it out here: http://www.ew.com/article/2015/02/04/check-out-trump

Additionally, you can find more of my work and contact me here: www.taraclune.com

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The Valentine and Clark Emerging Artist Fellowship is made possible thanks to the generous support of the Westchester Community Foundation, a nonprofit community endowment for the benefit of Westchester County.