Thijs 't Hart

The animated short film “Sonny Boy, Take your Time in Chronopolis” takes place in the fictional city of Chronopolis. In this city, time and rhythm is displayed everywhere, and its residents are reduced to cogs in a machine. The animation focuses on the story of Sonny Boy, who has been sent to prison by his father for being 20 seconds late for dinner. 

Sonny Boy’s story explores the question: what does it mean to “take your time”? While this saying is often associated with recreation and being in the moment, taking your time is a “reappropriation” of time. Time itself is a valuable and finite resource which, because of our upbringing with clock time, is often put in the hands of others instead of our own. This theme came up after revisiting my own time stress, which I trace back to growing up in a strict, time-sensitive household. When this gets combined with my autism, which already makes time management miserable, this turned time into trauma. The animation combines time stress, Hegelian philosophy, the Four Noble Truths, humor and oppression within an experimental visual style, while still remaining narratively coherent. 

My practice as an artist specialized in moving image is all about the world building. A world broadened by its own characters, stories, aesthetics, environments, narratives, worries, perceptions, ideology and most importantly: humor. This last element is a natural extension of my own world view, where I see humor as an amenity that brings relief and openness to otherwise uncomfortable situations or thorny subjects.