Meet Eric Urban

Today we’d like to introduce you to Eric Urban.

Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
My dad was always shooting home videos with his giant shoulder bag VHS camcorder. One day he showed my sister and me how to make “real magic” by disappearing records out of our hands and making me vanish into thin air. My three year old self didn’t get it. “Not like that!” I whined as he pulled the record out of my hand. “Not like that!” as he pulled me off camera, digitally vaporizing me into the ether. I wanted it to be REAL, but through my disappointment, a seed was planted. A few years later, he showed me how to bring a flower to life. We drew a little bit of the flower, then pressed start and stop on the camcorder as fast as possible. Repeated a couple of dozen times and all of a sudden, the flower was alive! My dad was a chemical engineer, not an artist at all, but these simple little camera tricks had such a profound effect on my path as an artist. It didn’t take long before I was animating things on my own, and eventually holding myself up in my room for months at a time. I was hooked on animation. Bringing stuff to life WAS magic.

Between those tricks, showing me how to work with tools and computers, and having endless support, I owe an extreme amount of gratitude to my parents. I’m incredibly lucky to have them.

Fast forward to today, I’ve animated on multiple stop-motion TV shows and movies including Robot Chicken, Community, Morel Orel, SuperMansion, Buddy Thunderstruck, Buddy the Elf, Charlie Kaufman’s Anomalisa, and ParaNorman.

Animating on big projects was a dream, but I always had the nagging feeling that I was neglecting my own art. About eight years ago, I had the naive little thought, “I think I want to make a game.” I picked up a game engine and, within an instant, knew deep in my bones that programming was about the most exciting thing on the planet. The interactive realm was a kind of powerful dark magic that has completely enveloped my thoughts ever since. For the next few years, every night and weekend was dedicated to learning code.

Three years ago, I left the stop-motion industry to develop my own games, and about a year ago released my first: a crazy 4-player tug-of-war called Heavy Burger. It was a team effort between myself and another brilliant designer, Scott Barrett. It’s out on Nintendo Switch, Steam, and we have a full-sized arcade machine in downtown LA at Two Bit Circus. Since then, I’ve been prototyping an unannounced stop-motion game, and have leaped into the fascinating world of generative art.

Please tell us about your art.
My work is a series of discoveries. I’m endlessly curious and open to what’s unearthed. I love when I don’t know exactly what’s going to happen. Science, discovery, learning, spontaneity, surprises: this is where the magic lies. Knowing exactly what you’re going to make is pretty boring. There’s always more to uncover. Spontaneity is at the heart of my character designs, which tend to be extremely simple blobs. This makes the animation process so much more liberating. I can experiment with new kinds of movement without getting bogged down by tedious sculpts.

My fairly recent foray into generative art has been filled with challenges and surprises. It feels like being on a frontier expedition into the unknown (luckily with less chance of premature death). I get so much joy out of creating something beautiful and interactive. The interactive element adds so many more surprises than you’d normally get from a still or video.

If anything, I want to give people something they haven’t seen before. Something that helps them appreciate the tiny details that make our world so rich. I want them to play, discover, and create on their own. Look at this universe. It’s absurd and so unbelievably beautiful.

What do you think about conditions for artists today? Has life become easier or harder for artists in recent years? What can cities like ours do to encourage and help art and artists thrive?
I can’t speak for other artists, but time is my biggest challenge. I want more of it. More time to explore, and more time with the people I love.

How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
Just follow my Twitter or Instagram @Lub_Blub and give me a shout!

Contact Info:

• Website: lubblub.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @lub_blub
• Twitter: @Lub_Blub

Image Credit:
Eric Urban

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