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Jon Dunleavy

Course Leader, Animation

Computer Arts and Technology

Jon Dunleavy is an animation practitioner and academic, currently Course Leader for BA Animation and BA Animation and Visual Effects. His creative practice operates at the intersection of satire, critical commentary, and evolving technological discourse, particularly the social and philosophical implications of artificial intelligence. Through animation, Dunleavy interrogates societal constructs, often blending humour with critical reflection to challenge dominant narratives and provoke discussion.

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My practice-based research explores the relationship between control and randomness, embedding human presence within digital systems. By using sound to drive visual form and incorporating simulation dynamics in 3D environments, I investigate how procedural and generative approaches can reflect, extend, or disrupt human authorship. This interplay between structured input and emergent outcomes is central to my exploration of the aesthetics and ethics of machine-human collaboration.

My short film Two Gracious Uncles Smooched to the Beat won at the 2024 British Animation Awards and exemplifies my interest in using subversive humour and experimental form to engage audiences. The film combines playful absurdity with critical intent, embodying the themes that underpin much of my work.

As both an artist and educator, I am driven by the question of what it means to be human—an idea that is increasingly urgent in the context of AI. My work seeks to expose, explore, and complicate that question through the lens of animation.

Everything is Going to be OK | Article in ‘Stash’ (opens in a new window)

Obsolescence in Love | Article in ‘Cartoon Brew’

Festival Screenings and awards

Two Gracious Uncles Smooched to the Beat (2024)

  • 2023 British Animation Awards Winner
  • 2023 Pictoplasma Conference of Contemporary Character Design, Berlin
  • 2023 Annecy Animation Festival, France
  • 2023 LINOLEUM Animation FestivalKyiv, Ukraine
  • 2023 Pictoplasma Conference of Contemporary Character Design, New York
  • 2023 Annecy Animation WTF2023
  • 2023 Luasanne underground Film & Music Festival
  • 2023 London International Animation Festival
  • 2023 Cartoons Underground, Sigpapore
  • 2023 Eject Competition, Interfilm Berlin
  • 2023 BitBang International Animation Festival
  • 2023 European Panorama Flipbook Film Festival, Macadonia

Everything is Going to be OK (2020)

  • 2020 London International Animation Festival
  • 2020 Eject Competition, Interfilm Berlin

The Alt Guide to Character Design (2018)

  • 2018 Pictoplasma Conference of Contemporary Character Design, Berlin
  • 2018 Eject Competition, Interfilm Berlin
  • 2018 The ALT Guide to Manchester Animation Festival

Crash Bang Wallow (2010)

  • 2010 Warsaw Film Foundation
  • 2010 Annecy Animation Festival
  • 2010 Babelgum Animatron Film Festival
  • 2010 Cambridge Film Festival
  • 2010 Animate the World, Barbican
  • 2010 Cannes Short film corner competition
  • 2010 Rushes Soho Shorts

Shadows and Dust (2010)

  • 2010 ‘Shadows and Dust’ Winner Babelgum Online Film Festival
  • 2010 ‘Shadows and Dust’ Fantoche International Animation Film Festival, Baden/Switzerland

The Technical Hitch (2006)

  • 2008 British Animation Award Winner
  • 2006 Sydney Film Festival
  • 2006 Festival Internacional De Cinema Fantastic De Catalunya
  • 2006 Rushes Soho Shorts Festival

 

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