Why Skylab 5?

When it came time to choose a domain to showcase my work, my thoughts turned to space, but more specifically to a book. A unique book — a pop-up book on the Skylab mission that I was given as a child.

Up to that point, in my young life, books followed a certain form or function, pages and pictures. This was something new and exciting... Within the structure of a book, within that familiar construct, this gave me so much more. I was in thrall — pulling the tabs, launching the rocket, animating astronauts tethered to the station during spacewalks...

It felt like a great fit. The fact that Skylab was orbiting the Earth when I was born gave it a certain astrological coherence — like a human-made zodiac, written into my birth chart.

Five— because the original missions only made it to four.

Years later, I was presented with the information that Skylab was launched into orbit without any idea of how they would bring it back down. To me, that continued to reinforce the moniker and the overall spirit of it.

The spirit of that book and the mission carries on in my creative work — creating titles, animations, and motion experiences. I carry the desire to push past convention and search for new voices to tell a story. The spirit of exploration and collaboration, sometimes isolated, other times as part of a team, with the ability to bring in other modules to tackle projects of all scales — all driven by amazing partners providing a solid mission control for every project.

Skylab 5. A moniker, a studio, a laboratory, a creative network.

Mark / Skylab 5