William Bottini: Art, Video, and Design Portfolio

November 2022:

Hello! My name is William Bottini, and here is a sample of my personal art and video work from the last two years. The projects in this reel were all led, directed, and primarily produced by myself, often at home during the pandemic. Looking back, there are a few themes in these projects that I would like to bring to your attention as an artist statement of sorts.

Collaboration

A few years back, I committed to creating more work in partnership with others. While I enjoy learning how to do everything in my projects by myself, working with others fills my life with meaning; it's very important to me. My partner, Shanna Polley, is the most important collaborator in my life. Over nearly a decade, we have worked on a shared vision for the visual and sonic world of her band, Snakeskin, and, in particular, her current multi-album project, Legend Sound Forever. This vision is now coming into focus in her upcoming album, Summoning Suit.

Marissa Paternoster, Quinn Konemann, Sarah Weitzman, and the record labels State Champion Records and Substitute Scene Records have also been important collaborators in the past two years. Creating space for others to bring their talents, such as photography, illustration, or screen printing, to projects we share with the world is gratifying.

The credits below list collaborators for each project. Please check out the links in the list to learn more about the specific projects. Thank you!

labels, values, Mediums, and Tools

I usually tell people that I'm an "artist" when asked. Or, if I'm in a professional setting, I'll code-switch and focus on my values and the value I bring to projects. Here's a value statement I would say:

I value working with teams and organizations to make positive impacts in the world through my skills in leading beautiful, creative, story-driven projects that can change peoples' trajectories in their lives and in the world.

I'm many things, including a writer, director, creative director, leader, artist, designer, and filmmaker. I'm also a grip, cinematographer, producer, runner, etc. Working independently, I have to do many things. Because my interests are broad and led by ideas, my choice of medium is also really broad. I wish, sometimes, that I could pick one thing and make my life easier, but I follow my ideas wherever they lead me. As a result, my reel includes work in the following mediums, tools, and roles:

Writing, directing, lighting, visual effects, compositing, 3D modeling (in Maya, Blender, and the VR tool Gravity Sketch), 3D filmmaking in Unreal Engine, sound design, graphic design, calligraphy, typography, motion graphic design, animation, motion capture, pattern design, printmaking, 3D printing, physical fabrication, AI art, photography, illustration, and more.

My interests as an artist, and at my day job as the creative director of Stanford Medicine's Educational Technology team, require a high level of technology literacy and engagement with new tools, so I am always thinking about the tools of production and how to engage with them in novel ways, such as tool-breaking or intentional misuse. My thesis was about this topic if you want to learn more!

Themes

Seeking, revealing, beauty, discovery, playing, and loving all come to mind when I look back at this work. Though these themes have specific meanings in context, I do feel that they represent me in general. Seeking: there is this constant movement toward... something. Something which is probably unknowable and unfindable. Revealing: but in art, we can find the unfindable. Kenya Hara coined the word "exformation," which is the opposite of information. It is that which reminds you of how little you know. Revealing: Tim Morton's "hyperobjects" also seem relevant here. Hyperobjects are objects that reveal themselves in small pieces, phased out over time, across dimensions that you cannot fully perceive, such as climate change.

Nonetheless, they still reveal themselves. Beauty: there is beauty in discovering that your eye is a "pale blue dot" in the sea of unfathomable, unknowable mystery that is the universe. Playing and loving: Slavoj Žižek writes that in a world where nothing is what it seems, where traditional forms of knowing and meaning have fallen apart, LOVE is the only thing that matters. For me, playing is a form of loving when done with someone I love. I am sure many other artists could relate to the idea that making is a language of companionship. This is true for me, and it is why collaboration and sharing are such important parts of making me.

Below, you will find stills from my reel, a list of credits, and portfolio links to some of the projects listed here. Thank you for visiting!