Motion Artist Marco Mori’s World is a Collision Course for the Human Form
WORKING NOT WORKING
German-based Marco Mori sees himself as just a normal 27-year-old guy with a passion for motion design and staying creatively curious. But an exploration of his projects begs you to feel anything but “normal.” His visual storytelling is simultaneously smart, grotesque, funny, and dark. It relishes in a queasy manipulation of the human form through inhuman experiences, from bodies bouncing boneless down a staircase to heads expanding, melting, and colliding. It’s possible that some of this interest in human malleability comes less from artistic inspiration than Marco’s own hobbies starting out. “I came from sports and skateboarding, where we filmed ourselves and I started cutting them together.” Next came an introduction to 3D animation at university. “At first I hated it because we were starting with Maya, a super-complex program. But I saw what was possible so I started researching and learning with Cinema 4D which addicted me instantly. Learning Houdini also offered so many possibilities.”
Now Marco has a style all his own, though that doesn’t mean it isn’t constantly evolving. The unexpectedness that comes with each project he uploads does a great service to the volatility of humanity that he explores. It’s this provocative approach that has attracted a wide range of clients from musicians like Gorillaz, Kanye West, and Young Thug. “I guess you never have this one style; it’s always changing and growing while working and learning new things. I love exploring; that’s what keeps me motivated to try different things and mix-and-match. Sometimes I just create what comes to mind but other times I consciously think about what is trending and which things provoke.”
Esteban Diácono and Antoni Tudisco are two artists Marco specifically mentions as influences on his approach. “I think it’s nice to build your network and see how people work and exchange some tips and tricks. There’s a great community of creators out there. Always nice and friendly and always up to help you.” And Marco has built quite the network with more than 458k followers on Instagram. He doesn’t really see an exact approach to proactively building his audience. You could say it’s more art than science. “If you get shared by big sites you have good odds to grow. But you can’t really influence it much more than that, so I just post my little experiments and go on to the next one. My advice would be to keep doing what your doing. If they follow you because of weird videos, you probably shouldn’t start posting pictures of sunsets. Be present. Post your works, interact with user artists to grow your network, and never give up to early. It’s a process.”
Stay tuned for new works from Marco, including a new music video alongside regular collaborator Sam Shea and projects with a number of agencies in Germany.
