During its first 12 months, the main activity was to gather data about outstanding animations for science outreach, which were made to communicate research about "invisible" objects to a wide audience. The data gathered by this activity will be organised and shared in the FICTA SciO website, a resource for scholars, students and enthusiasts, which constitutes a Milestone of the project.
The first stage of the research culminated in the hybrid conference "Figuring the Invisible - The Role of Animation in the Communication of Scientific Knowledge" (HSLU - Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, 15-16.12.2023). The event invited to discuss (online and in person) the research topic with international experts in the field, including the keynote speakers Martina R. Fröschl (University of Applied Arts, Vienna) and Scott Curtis (Northwestern University, USA).
Selected papers from the hybrid conference will be published by the Mutual Image Journal.
The Researcher also attended courses to train on transferable skills at the institution which hosted the outgoing phase, the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU). This training included:
- the attendance of the MA Design Focus Module course "Stories and Places" at the HSLU (Tue 14.03.2023 09.30 – 17.00; Monday 27.03.2023. 09.30 – 17.00; coordinated by prof. Axel Vogelsang);
- the attendance of the Research Colloquium at the HSLU (Mon 30.10.2023 9.15-17.00; Tue 31.10.2023 9.15-14.30; coordinated by prof. Maia Gusberti).
The ongoing research has also been preliminarily presented through talks delivered at international conferences:
- The lost landscape. The animated night sky and the representation of light pollution. 34th SAS Annual Conference “The Animated Environment”, Rowan University, USA, June 12-16, 2023;
- (Keynote Speaker) L’invisibile in figura. Strategie ed estetiche dell’animazione per la divulgazione scientifica. International conference “Scientific Thought in Animation and Comics”, Università degli Studi di Palermo, July 3-5, 2023;
- Animating the Uncertainty: The Cooperation between Science and Art in the Representation of Atoms and Subatomic Particles. XXX FilmForum conference and XX MAGIS Spring School in partnership with Visible Evidence XXIX, Università degli Studi di Udine, September 6-9, 2023;
- Forme e prospettive dell’animazione ecologica nel cortometraggio contemporaneo. Convegno internazionale “Sguardi verdi. La riflessione ecologica nell’animazione cinematografica”, Università degli Studi di Padova, November 6-7, 2023.
- Breve storia di una storia. Gli Animation Studies e l’Italia. Giornata di studi “Gli Animation Studies e l’Italia tra passato presente e futuro”, Università degli Studi di Roma Tre, December 5th, 2023.
The research presented at the 34th SAS Annual Conference was later published in an open-source article, “Le stelle dei desideri. Cielo notturno, inquinamento luminoso e fotorealismo tra astrofotografia, cinema e animazione: uno sguardo ecocritico”, La Valle dell’Eden, n. 40, 2022, pp. 69-89,
https://www.research.unipd.it/item/preview.htm?uuid=da2cb83a-a3c8-4a60-9589-a5b631a4a5b2(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie)The 12-month return phase, at the University of Padova (UNIPD) resulted in two Milestones: the opening of the FICTA SciO website (
https://fictascio.beniculturali.unipd.it(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie)) and the constitution of a committee for the study and communication about animation in science outreach, within the CICAP (partner institution of the project).
A second conference was organised: “Figuring the Invisible. Animation and Science Outreach in Contemporary Audio-visual Culture” (UNIDP, November 20-21, 2024). The talks were both in presence and online; the keynote speakers were prof. Peter Galison (Harvard University), whose work is among the main scholarly foundations of FICTA SciO, and prof. Malcolm Cook (University of Southampton).
The Researcher also attended more courses to train on transferable skills:
- Academic Teaching Methods (Dr. Nikola Vitković), June 20th, 2024; EURAXESS Webinar;
- Publishing Research from MSCA on Open Research Europe, June 25th, 2024; Webinar.
The research results have been presented at international conferences, with the following talks:
- Il segno del suono. Cenni sul rapporto fra animazione e composizione sonora. Convegno “Tecniche e Tecnologie dell’Animazione. Industria, Linguaggio, Pubblico”, Università eCampus, Italy, June 13th, 2024.
- (Keynote Speaker) Il lungometraggio animato in Italia durante la “Golden Age”. XXX Convegno di Studi Cinematografici “La ’golden age‘ dell’animazione italiana. Dal boom economico agli anni di piombo (1957-1977)”, Università degli Studi di Roma Tre, November 28-29, 2024.
The knowledge gathered during the action was presented and discussed in six more peer-reviewed essays. Of those, only one was published before the end of the outgoing phase:
- Beyond the Enviro-toon. The Ecocritical Theme in contemporary Animated Series for TV and OTT Media Services. In Andrea Bernardelli, Guglielmo Pescatore, Allegra Sonego (eds.), Television’s Eco-Narratives, Bologna, Media Mutations Publishing, 2025, pp. 133-150.
Downloadable at
https://hdl.handle.net/11577/3551652(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie) The publishing process of the other five essays is still ongoing. This is why they are not listed yet in the "Publications" section of this report, nor they appear in the section concerning the Dissemination Activities. They are:
- Gazing Around Sandro Del Rosario. In Rossella Catanese, Jennifer Malvezzi (eds.), New Paths On Italian Experimental Moving Image, London, Palgrave MacMillan (forthcoming May 2025).
- Abandon ship? Narrative and practice of sustainability in the animated films of MAD Entertainment. In Cristina Formenti, Chris Pallant (eds.), Animation and Sustainability, London, Bloomsbury (forthcoming 2025).
- Science and Animation. In Nichola Dobson, Paul Taberham (eds.), The Routledge Companion to Animation Studies, London, Routledge (forthcoming 2026).
- Sound Composition. In Franziska Bruckner, Alla Gadassik (eds.), Encyclopedia of Animation Studies Vol. 2: Techniques, Processes, Environments, London, Bloomsbury (forthcoming 2026).
- Wishing stars. The multiple space aesthetics of the animated night sky. In Fred Truniger, Jürgen Hagler, Kathi Kappel, Rada Biebersten, Tina Ohnmacht (eds.), Dimensions of Animation, London, Bloomsbury (forthcoming 2027).
They will be all accompanied by the disclaimer required by the European Commission, and they will be rendered available in open access.
