Deeply moving images

How can Mason Dixon believe the online-media industry is “going to do great” in 2009? The 33-year-old designer, who teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, isn’t insane: He’s a specialist in motion graphics who founded the annual Chicago Motion Graphics Festival (MGFest) in 2003. MGFest 2009 runs through Sunday 25 at Columbia College and other local venues.

Motion graphics “give the illusion that things are moving that never actually moved in the real world,” Dixon explains. You see motion graphics every time you ooh and ahh over CGI, watch South Park or roll your eyes at an animated ad: i.e., pretty much every time you turn on your television or use the Internet. It’s been a crucial tool for graphic designers since at least 1955, when Saul Bass’s opening credits immortalized The Man with the Golden Arm, and a mainstay of contemporary ad firms and directors. Artists employ motion graphics in video and Web projects as well: New York–based Rhizome and Chicago’s Video Data Bank offer plenty of examples.

Dixon says he started MGFest because comparable events six years ago were each limited to one genre, such as commercials or music videos. Having moved to Chicago from Austin, Texas, where he observed the success of South by Southwest, Dixon saw “the value of bringing together the music, film and technology communities.” Chicago’s numerous motion-graphics professionals offered a built-in audience; in two years, the event evolved from a small film festival into a week of workshops, screenings and studio tours. “We’ve doubled our attendance every year,” says Dixon, who now codirects MGFest with Troy Milstead and Julee Wood of Psymbolic, known in Chicago for their multimedia installations at clubs and concerts.

Dixon predicts we’re going to get more and more of our entertainment at home, online, which seems realistic given the success of websites like YouTube and Hulu and the increasing cost of a night on the town. The Internet won’t replace television or the movies, he says; instead, “What we’re going to have is a convergence” of various media.

MGFest 2009 intends to curate the most innovative examples of that convergence. A $7 festival pass admits you to several events this week that don’t require a working knowledge of Adobe After Effects—just an appreciation for cool visuals.

On Friday 23 at the Chicago Cultural Center, the Chicago Motion Graphics Screening presents “more artistic content that’s not necessarily coming out of commercial industries,” Dixon says. Most participants are local, but not all: Highlights include “Money,” a video Syd Garon and Paul Griswold created for the band NASA that animates Shepard Fairey’s art, and LE:60, a series of one-minute videos selected by Cambridge, MA, nonprofit Lumen Eclipse.

On Saturday 24, local studio Pixel Brothers hosts the Installation Art Showcase, which features about 20 projects—many interactive—by artists including Brian Dressel, Nano and Michael Una. MGFest returns to the Chicago Cultural Center on Sunday 25 with the Audio-Visual Performance Showcase, when artists including NYC–based Peter Kirn and locals Stoptime 341 bridge the gap between electronic music and video. You can watch videos any time at MGFest’s Daily Motion Graphics site, which Dixon describes as “?‘am I hot or not?’ for motion graphics.”

The designer hopes his event demonstrates that New York and L.A. aren’t the only industry hubs. Once you consider motion graphics in media other than film, Dixon says, “Chicago is much more of a center. We have three out of the ten largest advertising firms in the world; I would suggest that there’s going to be a huge influx of business for them. But they’re going to have to look a little outside of their traditional boundaries, at emerging mediums.”

The Chicago Motion Graphics Festival ends Sunday 25. For more information, visit MGFest.com.