The Sea Slug Animation Festival is making clear what was true its first year: only art made by passionate craftspeople is allowed. AI hacks, please dispose of your slop in the nearest trash can. by Chase Hutchinson The Sea Slug An imation Festival is making clear what was true its first year: only art made by passionate craftspeople is allowed. AI hacks, please dispose of your slop in the nearest trash can. This line in the sand is a matter of self-preservation. AI is an “existential threat” to animators. Though there is much uncertainty about what its impact will be in the future, the Animation Guild — a union that represents more than 5,000 artists, writers, technicians and production workers—estimate that 29 percent of jobs will be “disrupted,” whether through layoffs, loss of work, or other impacts. DreamWorks founder Jeffrey Katzenberg pessimistically predicts up to 90 percent of animation jobs could be cut. While the festival won’t save the animation industry on its own, Sea Slug is doing its part to push back against this technological nightmare. “Sea Slug remains a platform for artists who are creating art themselves to show their independent work,” co-founder Hannah Baek said, noting all the “awesome analog-made animation” screening during this weekend’s (Feb. 27 through Mar. 3) festival at the SIFF Cinema Uptown (511 Queen Anne Ave N).  Baek and co-founder Rhys Iliakis run the festival together. They started it last year with the guiding philosophy of spotlighting animation in all its forms and providing a space for local PNW animators to connect about their work. They’ve curated the festival’s second run with equal care, showcasing a variety of shorts and features that consist of animation on celluloid, hand-drawn with pencil, copper relief carving, oil on glass, pinscreen, collage, and stop motion with paper/puppets/clay, as well as 2D and 3D digital animation. The festival has also gained additional support since last year in the form of a grant from 4Culture. On top of that, they’ve got a new fiscal sponsor in Shunpike. This has allowed them to reach non-profit status and accept donations—if anyone feels like supporting humans in their fight for art against slop. Thus, with all that and the programming to support another day, they’ve expanded the festival in year two. The highlights this year range from a rare restoration screening to inventive shorts that all use a variety of techniques. Specifically, there is Son of the White Mare, a masterful 1981 Hungarian film about a divine white mare who gives birth to three heroes that must go on a quest to save the universe. There is also the outstanding Oscar-shortlisted short The Night Boots, which is made entirely via the meticulous process of pinscreen animation, an animation style that makes use of a screen filled with movable pins. Then, there is the mesmerizing Weeds, which is animated by painting on glass. To close it out, there is the spectacularly silly film No Room, a short set in a wacky world where cars have legs for wheels.  The closer is then a mystery film and—without giving anything away on what it is—it’s one that absolutely rips in a way AI could never. Just like the rest of the festival.  Sea Slug Animation Festival takes place Feb. 27-Mar. 3 at the SIFF Cinema Uptown. Tickets are available at https://seasluganimation.com/ ...read more read less