A stop-motion animation inspired by the absurdist play The Zoo Story by Edward
Albee.
The themes of the play include isolation,
compartmentalisation and failed communication. The play is
based in New York and involves a conversation between the
working-class Jerry and upper-middle class Peter that ends in
violence.
Jerry lives in a high-rise apartment block, has no friends,
and doesn’t know anybody in his building, highlighting the
loneliness and isolation in modern existence, despite our
physical proximity living in cities.
The animation encompasses the themes of the play,
dealing with the emotional distance between people in
modern society contrasted against our physical proximity,
this emotional deprivation is embodied in the emaciated
appearance of the characters.
The minimalist aesthetic communicates their isolation, and
having just two characters highlights the disconnection
between them; they co-exist but do not interact.
The animation plays on the idea of cycles and suggests the
characters are trapped by their environment and their own
behaviour.