Permanent Collection

Intelligence & Intention: Kutuko Studio Drops “ANIMALS” Short

Posted on Tuesday, December 16, 2025

CD Carlos Cabrera and the team at Kutuko in Madrid, take a minute off from commissioned work to adjust their creative process and produce a startling film they describe as “a visceral collision of instinct, craft, and AI-driven exploration.”

Carlos Cabrera: “ANIMALS is a cinematic study where movement, material, and digital instinct intertwine. More than a technical showcase, the project acts as a visual manifesto — a reconciliation with the digital medium and an attempt to return an emotional pulse to technology.

“The work combines high creative value and experience with AI-assisted conceptual exploration. Rather than seeking only physical fidelity, we leaned towards abstraction and suggestion. These creatures seem to form directly from the digital substrate, evolving, mutating, emerging.

“Working with AI is learning to let go of control without losing intention.”

“AI was not used to replace creativity but to amplify it. Generative tools acted as an engine for exploration, producing unexpected shapes, rhythms and behavioral ideas. Those early sparks were then curated, refined, and integrated into a coherent artistic direction. This dialogue between generative outputs and human decision-making was central to the film’s identity: organic, restless, and tinged with controlled unpredictability.

“This approach aligns closely with a trend Stash has been highlighting: projects that not only adopt new tools but interrogate them — works that treat technology as part of the narrative and part of the creative conversation.

“The result is a film that stands out both technically and conceptually: a visual essay on instinct, form, and the emerging aesthetics born when humans and machines share the creative process. Working with AI is learning to let go of control without losing intention.”