Animation
The Gowanus Canal by Sabra Booth.
For five years in the early 2000’s, Sabra Booth lived within blocks of the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, New York. The animation depicts an artist book focused on her impressions of the Canal’s history and her own personal experiences. This work was developed as part of the 2023 On the Waterfront exhibition, Central Booking in Collaboration with the New York Historical Society. The book can be purchased from Central Booking.
"Walled Off" by Sabra Booth.
Walled Off: Wildlife on the South Texas Border is a project about the effects of the border wall on various species of wildlife along the Rio Grande River, especially relative to the National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas. Initial funding for the animation was generously provided by the Luminaria Artist Foundation.
"Portals of a People" by Sabra Booth.
This film was created, as part of Sabra Booth's 2019 Artist-in-Residence at the Unesco World Heritage Site: Missions National Historical Park, San Antonio, Texas. The animation is a visual interpretation of prehistoric peoples relationships with local plants and animals. Uses demonstrated, with actual specimens, include medicinal, nutritional, spiritual, and social applications. Also, the film ends in a time lapse clip of the artist creating and printing from a collagraph plate made from these same plants. The animation and her prints were on display at Mission San José throughout the fall of 2019. Go to Special Projects: Portals of a People to view more images.
"Tinkerers & Thinkers" by Sabra Booth.
The City of San Antonio Department of Arts & Culture commissioned Sabra Booth to make an animation about the public art mentorship course. The animation display and an exhibit, she designed, traveled in a mobile art gallery, Art//Craft, to numerous sites throughout San Antonio in the summer of 2018.
"Slick" by Sabra Booth.
Slick is an animated short film that satirizes the impact of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill on the Gulf of Mexico. Years, later the spill is still effecting ocean wildlife, especially estuaries. The narrative follows actual events but also creates potential outcomes in fantastic ways paralleling vintage monster movies. Additionally, the film brings up ideas about "the other" and social rejection. Parts of the animation were actually shot in several Louisiana state park beaches and bayous near the affected areas. The overall film is a mixture of drawn paper doll-like characters, grease painting on glass, animated real specimens, collage, and photographs. Beside projected views, the director also displays the film as a sculptural art object, using an MP3 player housed within an oil pipe. Electronic pop band, Hyperbubble, and Austin harmonica player, Daniel Kaplan, also contributed soundtracks.
Note: She was awarded Best Narrative Film Award, 8th Annual Water, Texas Film Festival, Austin, Texas, 2022. Juried by Richard Linklater. Go to Special Projects: Slick to view more images.
"Schattengarten" by Sabra Booth.
The film Schattengarten uses stop motion techniques with collage and drawings to create a flow of consciousness visualization, influenced by her travels abroad. During a 2009 artist residency at TAKT KUNSTPROJEKTRAUM,in Berlin, Sabra Booth created large mixed media works of plant forms that she collected throughout the city. Later that summer, she made this film, while taking an animation course at the University of West England in Bristol. The soundtrack for Schattengarten is by NY cellist, Brent Arnold.