Zootrope

Mats Dekock

The zootrope is one of the first animation devices with which moving images can be viewed. The zootrope was invented in 1834 by the British mathematician William George Horner (1786–1837). The zootrope consists of an upright cylinder with vertical slots. When the cylinder is rotated, one can see through the slots the plates that are mounted on the inside of the cylinder wall. These pictures can be drawings or photos. Because the images can only be seen for a short time, it seems as if the images flow into one another, creating the illusion of moving images.

Mats De Cock translated the old analogue principle of zootrope into a digital version. Instead of drawings, Mats used different models of a space that he mounted in a star shape on a round plate. And instead of a cylinder with a slit that lights up more and more 1 animation, he used a flickering LED. The light frequency of the LED is adjusted to the rotational speed of the disc, so that the disc appears to animate a still image, although in reality it rotates at around 33 revolutions per minute. Although in reality you look at different revolving “spaces”, it seems as if you only see one stationary space, which is constantly slightly changed and moved by the artifacts of the model.