Why do babies cry when they’re first born? They must have something they want to express, but they can’t speak yet. So, they can only cry and fuss. I totally get that feeling because there was a time when I lost my ability to speak too. Luckily, my willpower helped me regain my language.

Animating is like fortune-telling; it’s about tracing effects back to their causes. I took my time, three years in fact, to hatch my eggs. At first, there were just some minor issues, but then the story of the butterfly mom found me. It’s a story preserved in old embroidery; the Miao people don’t have a written language, just like I couldn’t speak back then. I couldn’t see clear words either. I was like a blind person making animation, trying to figure out the shape of an elephant.

But when the time was right, I started to burn with a fever. I opened my eyes, saw the elephant’s bones, but the fire burned my hands. I was living in a state of production. Yes, movement without change is just a state, and time doesn’t exist in that. But action transforms the state into the solid stone of time. It gave me stomach pains, so I started laying eggs. The final offspring, as you can see, are these confusing things. But at least my stomach doesn’t hurt anymore.

I know there are ways to save the little ones. I could do CPR, Or simply, Just play  with them. This is pretty much how I make animations.