This article first considers Kota Ezawa’s video installation, The Simpson Verdict within the broader context of the rising interest in animation on the contemporary art landscape. After exploring three trends within this proliferation of artists’ animation – works that animate moments from film history, works that animate ‘reality’, and works that use popular media such as cartoons, television and video games as source material, this article examines the difference between Ezawa’s work, which re-draws already overexposed live footage, and those documentaries that use animation as a supplementary visual tool when live footage does not and/or could not exist.
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