Lab Notes #004
A raw look into current workflows, experiments, and creative collisions.
The Trigger
I love black-and-white photography — especially the old Hollywood style. Can we do something absurd with it? You bet your big nose we can.
The Process
In my world, "absurd" doesn’t always mean silly. As a media artist, it’s about exploring visuals that seem bizarre at first sight, yet resonate on a deeply emotional level. That is why my brand goes beyond just promoting the strange. It’s about encouraging individuality and owning the nonsense. Why mention this? Because while I’m a sucker for goofy videos, I see them as surface-level. If I can sneak a genuine human element into even a 30-second piece, it instantly adds a layer of unexpected depth.
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As I mention in the video, the two main AI tools I’m using here are Krea Moodboards + Krea 2 image model, and Flora for the video work.
Krea’s Moodboards analyze the images and recreate the overall look and feel. I use that to explore characters and pretty much use the moodboard as an aesthetic reference, and then I expand the world into animated scenes using Kling 03 Pro's (multi-shot prompting) inside Flora.
After that, it’s just about exporting a handful of my favorite selects and finding the story in post. Keep the edit tight.
The Result
This piece has a completely different pace compared to my usual work. I often tell friends that I love exploring my entire creative range…moving from minimal to chaotic, bizarre, and completely unhinged.
But the absurd also lives in the quiet. This is one of those pieces.
It’s a work that simply whispers: love yourself.
The Weekly Log
A record of recent studio activity and forthcoming developments.
01/ INDEX
The Big Back Room: Dreams dropped. Chucho and Leonard escape the backroom limbo to adventure a hopeful absurd dream world.
Did you miss Part 3 for People Are Strange?
02/ DEVELOPMENTS
There are a few series going on right now (The Big Back Room, People Are Strange, Hairy Nonsense), and I often hop back and forth between them. I'm currently re-evaluating this workflow, but it’s doable for now since the concepts are short and experimental. As for my one-off, non-series experiments, they will fall under a new category I’m calling Sketchpad.
The ABSRRD Catalog is being built to help us navigate how recent works are organized (Series, Sketchpad, Archives, and such), since they’re currently chaotically sprinkled across social platforms.
Inner Circle: Going out to ABSRRD collectors today.
Monthly Drop: Projecting end of June.
That’s all for today.
Stay Absurd!
Sway 🫠
