Eric Dyer - About

Artist Eric Dyer, dubbed The Modern Master of the Zoetrope by Creative Capital, brings animation into the material world with his sequential images, sculptures, installations, and performances. His animated, often participatory works explore themes such as non-violence, motion hidden in everyday life, the city symphony, moving-image history, his own degenerative retinal condition, and the relevance of physical presence in an increasingly digital world.

He has been honored as a Fulbright Fellow, Sundance New Frontier Artist, Creative Capital Grantee, Bogliasco Foundation Fellow, Leverhulme Trust Visiting Professor, and Guggenheim Fellow; while his films have won numerous awards, including Best Animated Film and Best Experimental Film at the Ann Arbor Film Festival, and Director’s Choice, Jury’s Citation, and Jury’s Choice awards at the internationally-touring Black Maria Film and Video Festival.

Dyer has been a visiting artist at institutions such as Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, USA), East China Normal University (Shanghai, China), California Institute of the Arts (Los Angeles, USA), and the Royal College of Art (London, UK). His films and interactive animated sculptures have been widely exhibited at prestigious international events and venues including the Smithsonian National Gallery of Art (Washington, DC), Ars Electronica (Austria), Tabakalera (Spain), ARoS Museum of Modern Art (Denmark), the screens of Times Square (New York City), and the Cairo and Venice Biennales.

Dyer cut his teeth in the industry, animating for clients such as PBS Kids, Discovery Networks, Curious Pictures, and hiphop luminary Rakim; and directing music videos that aired on BET, The Box, MTV Europe, and MTV. He was artist Jeremy Blake’s animator in the late 1990’s, bringing motion to works that were included in two Whitney Biennials.

The importance of Dyer's work has been recognized in leading academic publications in the field of animation studies, including Re-imagining Animation: the Changing Face of the Moving Image (Bloomsbury); Pervasive Animation (Routledge); Animation: A World History (Routledge); The Crafty Animator: Handmade, Craft-based Animation and Cultural Value (Palgrave); Art Journal (CAA publications); and A New History of Animation (Thames & Hudson). He is emeritus artist of the former Ronald Feldman Gallery in New York City. Dyer’s talk on TED.com, The Forgotten Art of the Zoetrope [go.ted.com/ericdyer] has been viewed over 1.1 million times.

“By displaying the concrete machinery of illusion simultaneously driving an environmental, cinematic experience, Dyer fundamentally advances the staid practice of video installation.” George Griffin, independent animation artist and voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

“…a most unusual and very old 19th century zoetrope cyclical device using 21st Century combined techniques… places [Dyer's work] in a separate category that may have to be invented.” Bill Matthews, Head of Training, Disney Features

“Dyer's work bestrides cinema and gallery, time and technology, animation and animus, and effectively re-imagines animation through its long, lost past.” Paul Wells, Editor, Animation Practice, Process & Production Journal

Leading scholars in the field of moving image art have described Dyer's sculptures as “a whole new area of film experimentation and exploration,” and that they “breathe new life into animation as an art form.”

Reviving the Zoetrope's Lost Evolution - video of talk @ Society for Animation Studies Conference

Artist Transforms Zoetropes From Retro Visuals To The Stuff Of Fine Art, Huffington Post

Eric Dyer video profile, Baker Artist Awards

Eric Dyer: Modern Master of the Zoetrope, Creative Capital profile video

Midnight Moment July 2015: Eric Dyer "Copenhagen Cycles Journey"

The Forgotton Art of the Zoetrope, Eric Dyer's talk on TED.com

eric[at]ericdyer[dot]com