Toxic

Using some fairly phenomenal flash-frame and stop-motion techniques, we witness the birth of a mosquito-like creature that emerges from what looks like a volcanic tiramisu in chrysalis form. Swiftly, it becomes altogether more menacing as if made of meccano and spawning it’s multitudinous larvae it looks set to conquer all before it. Luckily, perhaps inspired by Damien Hirst, there are some animals nicely pickling in some formaldehyde nearby and it’s the spirit of the courageous platypus that escapes first from it’s jar to round up some of it’s friends and embark on a mission through a toxic and skeletal wasteland to thwart the potential invasion. Right from the start it’s the innovation and the pace that is striking here. We mix the fantastic with the scientific, ancient hieroglyphics with modern mechanics and even the bucolic as we race through ten minutes of really quite creative artistry. The use of rapid-fire light and industrial sounding audio as well as plenty of bubbling lava-esque substances throughout makes this quite a threatening piece to watch as even the furry creatures have something creepy about them. This is well worth ten minutes, I’d say.