ARTS & CULTURE
Cincinnati’s Mark Neeley is creating artwork for the upcoming Faul! The Musical. P H O T O : P R O V I D E D BY MARK NEELEY
The Intersection of Sound and Vision Cincinnati-based animator and illustrator Mark Neeley has found a niche in the West Coast multimedia scene BY M AC K E N Z I E M A N L E Y
T
he beauty of animation is that it’s always evolving. Cincinnati animator and illustrator Mark Neeley is experiencing that now, as he prepares a new episode of his video series The Aquarium Drunkard Picture Show. An offshoot of L.A.based online music magazine Aquarium Drunkard, the series launched in 2020 as half-hour episodes that blend music videos, live footage, animated
14
CITYBEAT.COM |
sequences and tunes. Neeley – who lives here in Cincinnati – is tweaking the format for the newest batch, which will be released in May. The newest episode will not only feature new animation from Neeley, but also will bring in work from other animators and filmmakers, including claymation by Owen Summers. “The format will be similar to a special previous episode we did called
MAY 4, 2022 - MAY 17, 2022
‘Autumnal Equinox,’ which also featured film by experimental filmmaker Jodie Mack,” Neeley tells CityBeat in an email. “It will feature a combination of modern music videos and older live performance footage.” Neeley develops the series – along with other Aquarium Drunkard content – with the site’s founder Justin Gage. The duo even had a quick taste of national fame when the minds behind Adult Swim, Cartoon Network’s animation programming block, came calling. Well, until the nation began grappling with the coronavirus pandemic, that is. “We started on the show because Adult Swim was interested in making it a series,” Neeley tells CityBeat by Zoom. “Some people in their programming (department) had been fans of Aquarium Drunkard and had been talking to Justin about doing it for years, and they finally approached him. I thought it was
going to be our big break. I thought we had it locked in, and then COVID-19 hit immediately after.” Cartoon Network halted production as the pandemic ramped up, but Neeley and Gage’s pilot episode of The Aquarium Drunkard Picture Show aired anyway on Adult Swim’s app just before Neeley’s 30th birthday in 2020. To celebrate, Neeley stayed up with friends until midnight to watch the show go live. Despite the pause from Cartoon Network, Neeley and Gage decided to keep releasing episodes on Aquarium Drunkard, each one its own unique sonic styling of music and art. Episode 5, for example, opens with a spinning record morphing into a cloud before becoming the black eyes of a skull. The animation zooms out as rain pours, sun shines and colorful flowers grow over a trio of skulls. The animation is paired with a mashup of songs from Indie,
