Tapping into the Wonder of Getty Unshuttered’s Social Experience with Daniel Ma

Museums don’t prevail due to their exhibitions of the past but rather by building a bridge to the present and perhaps even the future. LA’s Getty Museum attracts its nearly 1.5 million annual visitors with great exhibitions of history and art but also with pushing the envelope in regards to how these pieces are presented, thus cultivating a modern perspective and demeanor that welcomes new aspiring artists and the public. “Getty Unshuttered” has been one of the most praised of these endeavors, embraced by the public and art community alike. Xiabo “Daniel” Ma in an animator who has contributed in a highly visible way to the Getty Unshuttered and Getty Unshuttered II events, albeit not in a manner that makes Ma himself a focus of attention. Daniel’s animation creation for these events has become a focal point for these events and their identities. Receiving such awards as the Shorty Social Good Award for Best in Social Justice, Shorty Social Good Award for Best in Education, and Shorty Social Good Award for Best Video Series, Daniel Ma finds his own artistic creations receiving loud praise even while surrounded by some of the greatest works of art of all time. The animator is quick to spread the glow of these accolades on others as he notes, “I think that everyone who participates in the show and the project should be credited. If it comes to my work particularly, I think my logo animation represents this project well enough to speak to people eventually of the ideas and messages. For people who value this project, it is easy to understand what the project is, and how this project is going to be presented.”

  Daniel Ma was contacted to work on the Getty Unshuttered project by Grammy Award Winner Michael Patterson, famed director of music videos for artists like Sting, A-Ha (yes, the iconic “Take on Me” video), Suzanne Vega, Bruce Hornsby, and a plethora of others. Patterson had been an admirer of Ma’s film work and felt that the animator’s style and vision would greatly benefit this new collaboration with the Getty. The two major and highly visible contributions of Daniel to Getty Unshuttered are “Blinky” and a selfie wall. Blinky is the animated logo for the event and combines the traits of an eye, camera, shutter, and word-bubble. The very intentional message of Blinky to young aspiring artists is to be aware of themselves in the world (eye open); take their perspective to see the environment and things around them (look around); use photography as a method and their camera as a tool (camera lens). Eventually, after a bright flash (to represent a camera’s flash), the communication is complete; create a message and send them to the world (word bubble) as the event’s name “Getty Unshuttered” appears. To accent the interactive theme of the event, Daniel also created a system that pre-rendered and projected animation on the wall, allowing audiences to use it as a background and eventually share on social network. In addition to adding personal excitement from those who appeared in this loop, the selfie wall further displayed the immediate connection of tech and artistic ideas possible. 

  An essential part of both the 2018 and 2019 Getty Unshuttured events which welcomed massive crowds, Daniel has evolved his work on these events to appeal to connect with a diverse population that ranges from the LGBT Community to Gamers and a variety of other lifestyles and interests. As Getty Unshuttered continues to grow, so does the exposure of Ma’s talent and creations. How does he feel as an artist whose work is so visible next to timeless masterpieces on display at the Getty? Daniel confesses, “It is mind blowing for me to imagine projecting my work on buildings of the Getty museum a few years earlier but yet there I was, looking at the whole Getty plaza lit up using my work and surrounding thousands of people who were looking at them, enjoying the moment. Besides that, my working process was so enjoyable because my directors and team members are super inspiring and supportive. This experience is invaluable because not only do I get the wonderful experience of showing my work in this high-end platform, but also that I gain so much knowledge of creative thinking and decision making.”