Through a series of screenings, workshops and lectures, this course introduces students to historical and contemporary approaches in abstract and experimental animation. A central premise of the course is that sound and music are key components of the moving image. Students will explore the concept of visual music, how rhythm, timing and counterpoint can structure or disrupt our reading of abstract motion. Another focal point is on the nexus between narrative and non-narrative modes of experimental animation, and how meanings can be negotiated through abstraction. In-class exercises and assigned projects will expose students to a range of tools and techniques which will enable them to design and produce abstract and experimental moving image works, as a form of artistic expression and as a conceptual tool for time-based media and beyond.