Dezeen Magazine

Adam Fuchs illustrates a never-ending walk in the park for Prefuse 73's Still Pretending

Music: animator Adam Fuchs takes viewers on a looping illustrated journey through New York's Sara D Roosevelt Park for Prefuse 73's Still Pretending music video.

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Fuchs originally pitched musician Guillermo Scott Herron – AKA Prefuse 73 – the idea of creating a constantly moving zoom of "weird abstract art". It was Herron's decision to use the Sara D Roosevelt Park, in the Lower East Side of New York, as the location for the video.

Prefuse 73's Still Pretending music video by Adam Fuchs

Working from a collection of photos of the park that Herron had shared, Fuchs created a moving tunnel-like representation of the area.

The video progresses through a parade of spinning hexagons and rotating spheres, with architectural details borrowed from the park including railings and brickwork arches.

Prefuse 73's Still Pretending music video by Adam Fuchs

"I used everything around the Sara D Roosevelt Park for reference," Fuchs told Dezeen. "Using Google maps allowed me to track the park via the streets and map out the entire thing."

Prefuse 73's Still Pretending music video by Adam Fuchs

"I took so many snapshots of buildings adjacent to the park, light fixtures, stairs, playgrounds, churches, gardens,"  he added. "Sadly, no one will really know because it goes by so fast."

Prefuse 73's Still Pretending music video by Adam Fuchs

The colour palette of the video changes in a loop, progressing from pink and orange to blue and purple and back again.

Prefuse 73's Still Pretending music video by Adam Fuchs

"The animation concept and timings are very much driven by the song," Fuchs said. "The animated objects are all timed to the clicks in the music. It was like animating with a metronome."

At times the movie seems to move through windows to show glimpses of familiar shapes like street lamps or tennis courts, with many of the graphic motifs repeating themselves later in the video.

Prefuse 73's Still Pretending music video by Adam Fuchs

As the viewer is transported through a succession of tunnels and down a jumbled staircase, the film zooms into a computer that is playing a Prefuse 73 track.

Prefuse 73's Still Pretending music video by Adam Fuchs

"My initial idea was to create a constant zoom but do it with made up and weird op-art that had no real significance," Fuchs told Dezeen. "I just wanted to trick the eye and have this state of hypnosis for the viewer. I enjoy that feeling of being tricked or hypnotised by art."

Prefuse 73's Still Pretending music video by Adam Fuchs

Fuchs used a "mathematical-like approach" to align the art and animation, taking around six months to complete the film.

Prefuse 73's Still Pretending music video by Adam Fuchs

"The story is just an unusual visual tour of the park and how massive and lively it is," he said. "I'd want this video to be the tour guide to the park. Like something you sit through in a visitor's centre."

Prefuse 73's Still Pretending music video by Adam Fuchs

Still Pretending is taken from the album Forsyth Gardens, which was released on 28 April.