The Spider

Director Juan Delcan of Nola Pictures created a mysterious and tantalizing animation to the Gabor Barabas poem “The Spider,” which is inspired by the art of sculptor Louise Bourgeois: “The work of Louise is very primitive, almost childlike in a way,” relates Delcan. “It’s all about the line and how visceral it is. So I wanted to do the animation in the same way—animation that is a little childlike and primitive.”
At first Delcan was hesitant about creating a project inspired by two artists he held in such high regard, but Barabas urged him to pursue the piece. When Delcan presented the first draft to Bourgeois, she was disappointed that there was just one animated spider and wanted to see more. Her feedback ignited the fire Delcan needed to immerse himself in this project.
The Spider consisted of several weeks of Delcan waking up at 3 a.m. to work on the project before going to work. The Spider has proven itself to be a successful starting point for an ongoing project. “I really enjoyed doing this piece. I am planning on doing a collection of animations of poems by artists who have that same primitive, childlike sensibility to their work, and I may condense the whole thing into feature.”