Hyalo

Over the past semester here at Montclair State University, I've been experimenting with optical negation by means of subtractive and additive color mixing; i.e. mixing projected light and painted pigment to get things to look like they're disappearing.  This was the impetus for my latest projection installation Hyalo, which actually turned out to be something quite different! (originally titled Of Unseeing: Hyalo, but changed exactly for these unexpected effects, namely that it was very un-unseen)

I began with this:  I wanted to merge the mandala form I've been using (see my previous posts, and some hence-coming...) with a rose window stained glass form (both of which originate from similar formal and theological concerns, historically).  The term hyalo - my title - is a greek word referring to glass mosaics, or, more specifically, prototypical stained glass windows.  The first projectors to use photographic positive and negative transparencies, created by two french daguerrotypists in 1848, were in fact called hyalotypes, giving a nod to stained glass as the first form of projector.  So I set out to paint a rose window that would be cancelled out by digital projection.  Upon blocking the projector, would reveal the painting underneath with their shadow.

I suppose this all is a continuation of my preoccupation with Heidegger's notion of Aletheia - truth as both revealing and concealing - and this mystically paradoxical idea of negative theology.

The window...

was spliced into to inverse fragments, that would be painted on opposing walls:

 This way, you could never get the whole vision, because your back would always face one component of the whole.  To confound this further, you can only see those pieces by concealing them in the first place.  I designed the following "room" setup, with two opposing projectors, aimed across one another, so that there was virtually no way to enter the room without obstructing one or both of them.

Come time to exhibit, my first task was to build the room itself.  I claim no style points, but given the one day I had to build this thing (and a shortage of movable walls) I'm quite pleased with my ingenuity.

moveable wall 1, with an extended support beam for the "corner" of the room

my best ceiling mount yet, complete with faux-ceiling tile, hung low so that the viewer will obstruct it.

beginning to install the tar paper walls...

a doorway in the center of the long wall, with supports mounted into the ceiling.

the finished room, dubbed "the chapel" by our critic in residence Matthew Nichols.

my two opposing projectors

moveable wall #2

projecting the image to be painted

painting it on

the effect of projecting the image on top of the painted image (shown in shadow)

working out the colors for projection in photoshop (projected onto the painted image on the wall)

Here's where things got interesting...  The image only really disappeared from the angle you see above (and ONLY that angle).  Once I stood up, I found that the "matte" acrylic paints I used actually reflected quite a bit of the projected light, resulting in an oddly ethereal, luminescent, metallic sheen.  Deciding to embrace this inherently stained glass like effect, the project therefore became something other than what I intended.  Additionally, as far as I can figure, a slight shift in ambient light also changed the colors projected in the final project.  This was the result:

It did still retain its "reveal" moment when blocked by shadow

another odd optical effect with the lights on...

...which heightened the reveal, but lessened the sublime effect of the image itself.

So I decided to play up that original incidental optical effect, masked off the edges, and produced the following!  This is ultimately what was shown in my show with Jeremy Bell, Pneuma (Breath and Soul).

Essentially, this project marks the point of divergence for two subsequent projects.  One in which I continue to try to solve the problem of reflection and get it to disappear, and another in which I continue to play up this new stained glass effect.  I'll be procuring a colorimeter from the photo lab to try to get better readings on the mixture of light and paint, and I'll try other paints as well (note the wall paint is not reflecting the same way)  It will be interesting to see what emerges!

Pneuma and Open Studios

I've got a bunch to catch up on, as I said in my last post, so I'll try to be efficient.

This past week my two person gallery exhibit in the MFA gallery with Jeremy Bell, entitled Pneuma (Breath and Spirit) went up, came down, and subsequently traveled (a whopping hundred or so yards) to make room for another show during our Open Studios.  Here's, a walkthrough video, followed by some pics!


I'll post more about the installation and my Hyalo project HERE [this will be a link shortly...]

Outside the gallery, Jeremy's

Because we can't help but re-engineer the gallery space, we divided it into 3 "rooms." Jeremy's first room.

My room, dubbed "the chapel" by classmates

Jeremy's other room, with touch sensitive lighting controlled by a sensor on the chair.  (pretend the pedestal's gone)

Originally intended as a projection negation project.  Theoretically it would have become virtually invisible, only revealed by the shadow of the viewer blocking the projected light that optically cancels the paint on the wall.  Clearly it failed at being invisible because of the paint being slightly glossy and reflecting a shimmering glare, causing it to succeed at something very different!

My latest homemade ceiling mount.  Getting a bit more elegant each time!

the opposing projector - each wall's rose window projection was an inverse of the other.

revealing by concealing

The mandala

Random QR code destination, taking you to a different site every time. (and a slowly disintegrating screen protector...)

THEN, on Friday we had Open Studios.  It was an awesome night, and thanks to all of you who came!    Jeremy and I had the task of transplanting our installation into the workshop at the other end of the building (in one afternoon).  It took a bit of reconfiguring and ingenuity (the fact that my room didn't collapse on anyone is a small miracle in itself) but it came out quite nice!

no ceiling made the install interesting...

outside my studio

inside my studio

It Is, being shown in my studio.  Stills to follow.

Our guest show featuring Jesse Bransford, Saya Woolfalk, and Sarah Walker, among others

So that's all pretty devoid of content (i.e. philosophical mumbo jumbo), but maybe that's for another post.  ...you're welcome?

The World's Shortest Show and the World's Longest 2 Weeks

Well maybe not technically...

But today, tomorrow, and Wednesday if you hurry over to Montclair State University's Finley Hall you can see my show with Jeremy Bell in the MFA gallery, entitled Pneuma (Breath and Spirit).  The show is coming down a bit early in order to make room for a visiting artist show during our Open Studios this Friday.

If nothing else, Pneuma (Breath and Spirit) can definitely be credited with ambition.  I gave my projection negation technology a first run with a new room-sized installation titled, Of Unseeing: Hyalo, and also included my first completed QR mandala, Meditation 1.1 (Thusness, Elseness; Omnipresent).  Between Jeremy and I the gallery has been transformed into 3 distinct rooms complete with furniture, 3 projections, viewer-controlled variable lighting, painting, drawing, phosphorescence, and even an orange tree, all set musical stylings ranging from Beyonce to Pachelbel!

I'll include some pictures soon.  For now I'm trying to get my feet back underneath me and settle back into some sense of normalcy.

It's been a whirlwind few weeks (literally... ahem, Sandy...) of a nomadic lifestyle.  We finally got power back at our house today, our 15th day without electricity, heat, or water, after bumming on couches in 3 different states among family and good friends (and studios).  After dodging the hurricane and subsequent noreaster, the past weekend was filled with midterm critiques, installation for this show (some 30 hours of sleeplessness...), and now gearing up for Open Studios on Friday.

So I've got much to catch you up on, now that power's back - Pneuma and Open Studios, the completion of the mandala and the projection negation project, as well as an interactive video project in the works.  Also a collaborative project for the Van Vleck Sculpture Garden, a class I'll be teaching at the Collective Art Tank in Asbury Park, and a show coming up in January at Seton Hall's Walsh Gallery.  I'll try to tackle at least one or two of these tomorrow...

For now, here's a teaser:

...for your hair...  What did you think I meant?

"Great! ...Now Back to the Drawing Board."

Last Sunday (10/28) I had the privilege of being a guest preacher for Trinity United Church's recent sermon series, reexamining scripture through the lens of art.  After a small hurricane-induced delay, Here it is!

Old Testament Scripture Reading: Genesis 11:1-9

The Tower of Babel

11 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. ² As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.

³ They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. ⁴ Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

⁵ But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building.⁶ The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. ⁷ Come, let us go downand confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”

⁸ So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. ⁹ That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

New Testament Scripture Reading: Luke 14:25-35

The Cost of Being a Disciple

²⁵ Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: ²⁶ “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. ²⁷ And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
²⁸ “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? ²⁹ For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you,³⁰ saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’
³¹ “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? ³² If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. ³³ In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.
³⁴ “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? ³⁵ It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.
“Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

[The slideshow got washed out upon filming, so I've edited in the images post-production.  A bit crude, but it does the job.]