Kenneth Coker

Kenneth Coker is an animator and illustrator from Lagos, Nigeria, currently residing in Memphis, TN. Check him at kennethcoker.com (+) 

What terms would use to describe your work?

First things first, you're right about the stories within my work. That's what I consider myself first - a storyteller then an artist. Because that's the way I convey those stories, through the art. Right now what I'm trying to get accomplished is animation. Most of my work deals with that, with the programs you have to use to create animation. I majored in illustration, but in my spare time I learned as much animation as I could. So I could tell these stories.
  

 In terms of describing my process I would have to write the story first, research, and do all that. I would have to start discovering imagery that would influence my artistic style, the visual development and vocabulary. I would do a whole bunch of illustrations to try and flesh out that world, the characters, that sort of thing. Then I would go into the production, which is using animation tools and programs to bring those ideas to life. That's how it goes usually.
   

  For instance, I finished this short film for my senior thesis called Iwa, which is based loosely on Yoruba tree of life myths.Yoruba people are an ethnic group in Nigeria. It recently got accepted into Indie Memphis. I actually just found out today. So, it's a good thing. It got into a short film festival in Scotland too, which I'm happy about. I'm still waiting to hear back from a film festival in Ghana and in Trinidad and Tobago. We'll see how that goes.

What is your short film about?

Iwa is a story based on Yoruba mythology, which is about the tree of life myths. It's basically about this character who rebels against his master who is an Orisha. An Orisha is a deity in Yoruba mythology. He does this because he is an artisan who has to do monotonous tedious work all the time. He inadvertently rebels against his master because he sees something in himself without realizing it and ends up getting distracted and kills his companions by mistake. He is expelled from the realm of the gods, to Ife, which is earth. He's forced to make his own living in Ife. In Ife he has to basically atone for his mistakes, for killing his companions. He has to restore the tree of life in Ife.  It's an 8 minute short.

What role does mythology play in some of your creations?
 
It definitely plays a major role. Ever since I can remember my dad would tell me these stories and myths and legends in Lagos. As I got older I researched on my own, found out all these stories. It's just a huge goldmine that nobody's really .. I mean there have been some tellings of these stories, but not to the scale and scope that I would imagine them to deserve. I would say that they are pretty much my number one influence in storytelling, besides experiences in life and other thing that inspire me.

How did you start doing animation?

    Well, I think 2000 was the first time I ever saw an animation program being used. I'd always seen animation throughout my life, like Disney animation, German animation. We have German television back home. Don't ask me why.
    My brother started using a really old version of an animation program. It looked like the best way that I could bring my ideas to life. So I started using it back then to create basic things, knowing that over the years I'd probably be able to pick up the knowledge enough to create my own movies one day, or my own shorts. So that's basically how I got into animation. I've been teaching myself ever since then. I haven't really gone to school for it. I just teach myself.
    I should say also that wanting to tell these stories has been like a huge driving force for me learning all that stuff on my own. Because there's a lot of technical knowledge you have to pick up, but that's what the internet's for. You can learn pretty much anything on the internet. There are forums and places you can go to pick up tutorials and all that stuff you need to learn.

Do you see these stories having an effect or place in the world? Is there something you want these stories to do? If so, what is that?

    Ever since I can remember I've known that African stories, traditions, and culture have not really been exposed to the world as much as they should. There are places to go, things to read about African traditions, myths, stories, legends, whatever... but I've never seen movies or animations. I've seen books. Lots of books. I've read lots of books that deal with that, but it's not really in the mainstream media. I do feel that African traditions and culture and stories have a place in contemporary society. I do feel they have something to say. So that's what I'm trying to do, give it that exposure, so that people can see it and maybe understand a little bit better about that part of the world.
    My experiences here, coming to the states for the first time four years ago is evidence enough of that. There were some people that wouldn't know where Nigeria is on the map, let alone the languages spoken in Nigeria, or how many ethnic groups are in Nigeria. If I do get to make these movies, shorts, or animations then it will say something about where I'm from.  I think that in itself is a reason to strive to produce these movies and media.
    And I mean.. it's not to say that there aren't stories out there already. There are writers like Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe. I know that high schools in America, part of the syllabus is Things Fall Apart.  That's a story that's a classic Nigerian tale. It's actually not so popular back home for some reason. He's a really respected writer, but just in the world outside Nigeria there's not much understanding of African culture and stories, or to the point that I think it deserves.
   And it's not even really just about the aspect of seeing different ethnic groups in these movies. It's also subtle things like different types of humor that you would experience in that culture. In Yoruba culture for instance, there are proverbs that are smart, funny in different ways that are funny here. It's just trying to get that out to the rest of the world, to see that this country, this part of the world also has its own identity, an identity that is different from what you think or misconceive, pretty much. That's part of my drive to see these things happen.

Thinking about place, stories, or the different types of humor in different places, what do you think about the role of travel and having an understanding of different places?

    I think it has a giant role to play in society. I think if anyone gets a chance to [ travel ] they should, because really understanding the world in the larger scope of things - not just knowing your immediate surroundings - is important. That's how the world can progress really, is understanding different people, being able to not just tolerate their views, but understand why they have those views. That's the way things can move forward, I think. That's the way peace can move forward. If we had a better understanding of certain religions or certain cultures we wouldn't make such strange claims, as to think that they are really out there.. wild, or extreme, or something like that. For instance, if there was a better understanding between Israel and Palestine, there'd probably be less violence. Travel plays a huge part. You get to see and meet people and understand their stories, their struggles. It's important.

Given where you are right now in your life... Say tomorrow something could come along to help you in that process, help you get to that next stage? What things are you looking for.. to help you get to that next stage?

    Right now I'm freelancing and that's only to make ends meet.. but I have been looking for a job in the animation industry. In doing that, if I did get a job at a good studio for instance, I'd be able to understand how an animation studio works.  If I spent a while there, I'd be able to pick up enough knowledge to run my own, and hopefully enough contacts and people who could support a venture like that. That's the main thing that could happen to expedite I think, besides someone throwing money in my face and saying make this idea happen.
I wish that could happen.

Could you tell me some more about Jupiter Jonah?

It's funny that you bring him up. I was just working on him before I left to come here. He's actually a character that my brother made for a comic series, because he's an illustrator. He's also a storyteller. It's good too because both of us think along the same lines. It's probably better, because we can make these things come to fruition easier because there's two of us instead of just one.

    Jupiter Jonah is a character that my brother created. It is a story based on a mythologist/anthropologist that gets transported from modern day Lagos, Nigeria to the future, by a group of individuals that need his help finding an artifact in the Niger Delta. It's sci-fi, that incorporates classic, fun pulp action adventure tones. The bulk of the action and adventure takes place in a Niger Delta that possesses mutant flora and fauna, but of course the setting is based on current Nigerian forests and jungles. Right now I'm designing Jupiter Jonah as a character to test out my animation skills and possibly to create an animated short, that will run alongside my brother's comic.

 Yeah, when I first took a look at your blog and just though it was so cool. I saw so many different possibilities, the mixing of the past and the future.

    That is actually one of the main elements or main themes... that dichotomy between the past and the future of that part of Africa.... It's a really interesting concept. It's supposed to be humorous and zany and crazy. My brother reads a lot of sci-fi like Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert E. Howard.. who wrote the Solomon Kane books. He watches a lot of American sci-fi and sci-fi from around the world. It sort of parodies the perception of early writers and how they perceived African people back then.. in the Victorian era or the early 19th century.. how they depict African characters in their books. It sometimes parodies those elements. And it puts its own humor in there too. But that's mostly what I think Jupiter Jonah is going to be about. It's kind of finding that balance of humor and originality in that sort of sci-fi element.

Do you have any particular thoughts or questions that influence your life right now?

    Right now in my life I am trying to develop the things that will allow me to get my career on track. At the same time I've found out that I have all these ideas, but I also need to develop the basis in which they can develop.. which is reading and finding out about things as much as I can. Right now I am reading as many things as I can that can influence that work. For instance I am going through the Grimm fairy tales right now. It has nothing to do with Yoruba and African traditions, but they're fairy tales and that's linked to what I'm interested in. Even stuff that I'm not interested in- stuff that I couldn't care about years ago- like certain areas of politics. I'm trying to garner as much experience and knowledge as I can, so that stuff can influence my work . I feel it's important to know things, not just for knowing them, but so that they will enrich my work. It's important. That's where I am right now, besides trying to get my career on track.
Basically anything I can do to tell a story... as many avenues in art that I can use to express those stories is specifically what I'm targeting in my career right now.

Have you ever dreamed of flying?

    Yeah, I mean.. everyone has I think. Actually, when you mention that.. whenever I think of flying it's not really flying. It's more like jumping.. like I'm in space. I never soar through the air like superman or whatever. It's more like I float for a little bit, then touch the ground again..  touch the ground again. Now that I think about it, I've never actually had a dream where I'm flying like constantly in the air. I don't know what that means or symbolizes, but..


... Well, I also liked [your characters] because I want to see African people.. in the future.. I just want to see that. And your depictions just looked really great..  just capable and in the world.

    Those stories are out there, they just aren't receiving as much or the same attention as things in Hollywood are. I mean you could turn on a certain satellite television and see Bollywood movies. You could see a whole slew of them. There are, I believe, four times as many Bollywood movies made than Hollywood, but they don't receive as much monetary backing and covrage as Hollywood does. So we always see the Hollywood stuff more. Same thing goes with short films in Europe. Their festivals are not as backed as the ones here, so they get more coverage here. So, when the schools there create things that are innovative, like the animation schools, it's kind of hard to find them, unless you search the internet like I do. They're not out in the public eye all the time. Stories like that.. African stories.. Australian stories.. they're all out there.. we just have to .. the people that think of them.. People like me have to struggle enough to give them that attention.
   So I guess that's what my career is going to be like. My life's goal.. to try to see that done. At least try. I know there are a number of people out there that are like me, like back home. They do want to do these things. There are situations in Lagos like power cuts. And the economic situation that don't allow things like that to be possible all the time. You'd have to have some sort of super-rich benefactor to successfully do something like that. Nobody really wants to invest in an animation movie back home. So maybe in the next say 20 years we'll see something coming out of there. The initiative is there. It's just people getting their act together.