In her series of clever short animations, ‘Mysteries of Vernacular’, Jessica Oreck breaks it down one letter and one bizarrely labyrinthine word origin at a time. Also pleasingly post modern, is her participation in the wave of direct audience funding- she garners donations for the ongoing project on Vimeo and her website. Artistic independence meets community interdependence. Read on as she shares some language with Dragonframe about the series’ original roots and to see more installments.

I usually make feature-length documentaries that take several years to complete.  So I started this project because I wanted some instant gratification.  I wanted to use my hands and stop seeing the world through a computer or a lens.  I have a ton of projects much like this one lurking in the wings of my brain.  It all just comes down to timing – when I have the access to what I need to get it done.  And I guess it was just the right time for Mysteries of Vernacular!

I think the only – not unforeseen – but rather, underestimated difficulty was that this went from being a weekend project to something much bigger.  It was only after I showed my first episode, “Clue” to a few people that I started thinking about doing one animation for all 26 letters of the alphabet – which, when you add it all up, comes out to about a year.  So much for instant gratification!

Much thanks to Dragonframe.  Seriously, one of my favorite tools in my toolbox.

– Jessica Oreck

Thank you, Jessica! We will be looking to see how this twisty word mystery unfolds.

More quizzical installments: