700,000 tombs come to life as part of a project to reinterpret public spaces

This by Ross Brooks:

Panteon de Dolores is the largest cemetery in Mexico with a staggering 700,000 tombs spread over 590 acres – many of which house more than one person. In a strange twist of fate, it was recently brought back to life in the form of an animated video. It’s all part of a project called Ciudad Intervenida, which challenged emerging talent from six of Mexico’s best animation studios to reinterpret public spaces through animated interventions. Don’t miss out on the mind-boggling video.

Directed by Alejandro Garcia Caballero of the Mexico City-based Llamarada, a firm that specializes in traditional and digital animation, the video features strange creatures that come to life in the night. Unlike the sombre nature of death in the West, the video also features a fairly upbeat marching tune that makes you feel like you’ve fallen down the rabbit hole.

Through this short films, the directors aim to reinvent iconic places of the city to modify the predetermined cultural value that each city space already has. Whether through a computer or a mobile device, viewers can experience places like the Sonora Market, the Vasconcelos Library or the Dolores Cementery, as new and transformed.

Even though Panteon de Dolores is just one of six different animations on offer, all of the video share the same goal:

The project’s purpose is not only to promote the work of the directors and studios involved, but also to create work that invites the public to see the spaces of the city as they’ve never been seen before.

If you haven’t already watched the video, then now is the time.