My Blog is Rebelling... I'll Fight Back with some New Videos!

In case you were curious, No I didn't suddenly develop a penchant for flowery text.  I don't know what's going on with the font on my blog.  So if you're seeing this post and trying to squint your way past flourishy serifs and unwieldy script that makes the page look less like a blog and more like a doily, you can blame the blogspot gods, to whom I've already submitted my gravest supplications.

If you're tenacious enough to get past that visual annoyance, I'd like to share with you some new videos I've posted to my website!  I've been toying with ways to make looking at my projection work on a computer at least a bit more engaging, considering roughly 93% of the magic (in my calculations) lies in viewing the installations in person.  It may be a baby step, but I decided to try out a movie trailer style overview.  So here they are: my shadow projection project, which has been given the title It Is (see previous post for why this announcement is relatively momentous), and the glow in the dark projection project, now titled This is It, It was Here.


[drumroll]

As for my font frustrations, I don't really know how to go about fixing it (all conventional wisdom falls limp at the immovable force of obstinate technology) so I've done the best this feeble blogger could do: joined a discussion forum.  Until then, I hope you like doilies.

Fuzzy Mitten Moving Life Tai Chi Marionette Shadows of Plateggerian Truth, Grasped or Not [And Everything Else]

I've been having a lot of trouble thinking of titles lately.  Unfortunately, try as I may, I can't really find a way to justify labeling all of my work Untitled No. 376, and so forth.  And even more unfortunately, I can't help but believe that justifying your titling rationale is pretty crucial.  On one hand, the title needs to serve as an entrance point into the worldview in which the work exists.  For instance, if I were to name my shadow projection piece Umbral Geometry (or something equally prosaic), though generally accurate, it would mislead the viewer into thinking I'm some sort of formalist preoccupied with the way shapes are enshrouded.  And who could call such a reading wrong?  Surely not I after that red herring of a title.  On the other hand, if I try to nail down my intended concept too exactly with a ridiculous title like Platonic Shadows and the Heideggerian Grasping of Truth, I find it serves less to define what it is (not to mention opens a clear shot for a skeptic to easily dispute that matter and write off the entire enterprise as inaccurate and misguided), but more to shut the door on what it is not, limiting some of the more potentially profound readings.  Furthermore, I don't want to feel like an idiot referring to this thing down the road;  "As you recall, my famous principle of radical deep theophenomenalism for which I have just received this third MacArthur Genius Award was first developed 27 years ago in my magnum opus, Fuzzy Mitten Moving Life Tai Chi Marionette Shadows of Plateggerian Truth, Grasped or Not [And Everything Else]..."  Embarrassing titles are no fun.

I admire artists who's titles fit somehow into their worldview, almost as works of art in themselves.  Like the dadaists and surrealists working with nonsensicality, picking names out of random encyclopedia pages for their titles (see the surrealist game Exquisite Corpse).  Part of the problem there is you have to really know the landscape of your world in order to find the titles that exist within that world.  I guess that's what this summer is supposed to be for.  I'm looking forward to when I've thoroughly investigated this world of mine to the point of knowing it inside and out (and receiving that third MacArthur) Until then, I guess I'll just stick with my current titling methodology.  Procrastination...

A Birthday Gift for a Traffic Cone Aesthete

Much dismayed by my unavailability for fellow artist Erik Sanner's birthday gathering at Brighton Beach today as per my work schedule, I promised Erik I'd try to do something involving traffic cones in his honor.  As a part of the Trader Joe's Westfield Landmark Mural That Never Ends (see previous posts from December...) I've been tasked with adding two more 12 foot panels to this already out of hand project (which began as a 36 ft mural on the front windows and has now become a 70+ ft debacle on the back wall including pop up foamcore victorian style illustrations of guys with mustaches and giant neon hibiscus flowers.  But that's a story for another day).

As such, I spent a good chunk of the day hoofing it through the town taking pictures of landmarks.  As it turns out, Westfield is actually littered with traffic cones, so I thought I'd share some of my findings (humbly selected by applying Erik's own criteria [if you're actually diligent enough to follow the link, scroll down 7 pages to his "Exceptional" page]).

WARNING, some of the images you are about to see may be a bit disturbing;  Westfield is not a friendly place for traffic cones.  Though, in the midst of this forlorn - or at best eccentric - quasi-post-apocolyptic abandonment, there does seem to be some sort of hopeful, activist movement emerging in relation to these destitute and forgotten harbingers of the singularity.

my personal favorite

Happy Birthday Erik!  Hope it was a great one!

Re-envisioning the Video Still

So the summer has come, and I'm embarking on a quest to learn everything.  Well, everything that seems relevant to the world of my artistic practice.  Which is pretty close to everything.  After a week long intensive crash course on how Heideggerian philosophy meets artmaking, we've been tasked with a summer of research on all of the things our practice "gathers."  We're investigating the fields of study, major thinkers, artists, places, and practices that inhabit our conceptual landscape.  Ultimately this is to earn a deeper awareness and understanding of our art's world, bringing this newfound scholarship back into the studio to evolve our practice accordingly.

As part of this, I've been revisiting my major projects from last semester and re-invisioning how they might be different If I were to do them over (or other variations of them).  I've been thinking a lot about how drawing might meet up with my shadow projection video, and particularly how a video still from that should operate.

Problem:
A traditional still seems inadequate, and the simple prints I collaged in my show in May just didn't seem to operate within the same realm as the video, sloughing off all of the most important parts and essentially becoming wallpaper.

So what are the vital elements of the video that should be preserved in a "print" or "still?" I came up with the following:
-the luminosity, which lends it its divinity and sheer presence
-the layering
-the way one element exists as a reaction to another
-the imagery itself, of course

Solution:
I've begun by constructing a sort of layered light box that would allow the still print to function within the same world as the video itself...

frame and "guts" of the light box

 By building a backlit frame that can house several layers of glass, I can recreate the luminosity of the video.  I used fluted window molding cut at 45 degree angles for the frame, glued and bracketed together, which would allow me to drop a masonite board into the slot and feed some LED rope light into the frame.  By lining the masonite with tinfoil, I can maximize the reflected ambient light.

top/back view of layers in slotted fluting

Then I can layer in the shadow and the painting from stills in the video on sheets of acrylic to reconstruct the compiled image created in the video.   Leaving the protective film and a bit of distance between the first two panes helps to diffuse the light so the ropes themselves don't shine through and create hot spots.

Finally, I can incorporate the reactionary element by taking the still one step further.  Here's where drawing comes in.  Originally in the video, the painting is a reaction to the shadow.  But in a still, both the shadow and the paint already exist.  So the natural progression of this logic would be for the still to be a sort of drawing that reacts to the shadow and paint (perhaps taking it back towards the original platonic imagery I used to project the shadows in the first place?).  This will take place on a piece of acrylic resting in front of the layers of prints, allowing the still to both preserve the imagery from the video and still grow as its own exploratory piece of art.

More to come as I finish this project (and others) and embark on becoming an expert on things like Christian Mysticism, New Media, and Post Human Theology!

Glow in the Dark Apparitions

Ok, now that my semester has eased to a close ("eased" in the way a fighter jet pushing mach 2 eases when it meets a mountainside), I've got some more free moments to update you all on the many happenings of the last few months.  One such happening, of course, was the projection show, Apparitions II, in which I created a piece that would use my recent glow-in-the-dark paint experiments (see last post).

I decided to use the fading nature of the retained image captured in the glow-in-the-dark paint-coated surface after an image is projected onto it as a metaphor for grasping at the fading nature of a spiritual connection with a given place.  I started investigating ritual rock piles, finding that they are a tradition that spans several faith traditions, from the Judeo-Christian rock formation after crossing the Jordan, to Zen Buddhism, to Native American vision quests.  The act of piling the rocks becomes a meditative way of attempting to connect with the spirit of a location and erect a monument to that spirituality.

So my project went thusly:  I would erect a rock pile with a cup of glow in the dark paint carved into the top rock.  I would then create hands that would be cupping the glow paint, as if scooped from the rocks.  Onto that glow paint I'd project images of the rock pile in various states of completion, which would then be captured in the fading glow of the paint.

This was a project of many firsts for me.  One of which was the first time I tried being a sculptor and casting my hands in wax.  I used alginate and was extremely happy with the fidelity of the mold.

 I then touched up some of the fingers and whatnot by hand with an electric heat knife thingy that would melt and reform the wax, and added the glow in the dark paint.

The only problem with all this was that, in the course of critiques in class, it was decided that the hands were simply too small.  Back to the drawing board.  I then embarked on a second sculptural first: relief. I got myself some MDF board and plaster, and began my relief hands.... very much the hard way...

First I sculpted the plaster additively, which meant that I only had a window of a few minutes as the plaster cured in which it would be solid enough to build up but pliable enough to sculpt.  Several buckets of plaster later, I built up some the relief, fastened to the MDF by holes I drilled to give a sort of score-slip-join type of bond.

Then I proceeded to do the stupidest thing possible - at the want of sculpting tools, I carved the relief by hand using the only tool I could find... a loose drill bit.  My sculptor friend noted that it was a valiant first attempt at a mediocre relief.  Upon hearing that I had done it with a drill bit, he thought it was a relative masterpiece and that I was some sort of idiot savant!

I touched it up wit some borrowed tools and then painted the hands next.

With this complete, I started building the rock pile, taking images, and experimenting on photoshop, ultimately coming up with variations of the completed image that would be projected:

I then realized a huge hurdle needed to be overcome.  In order for the glow paint to be activated, the image would have to be projected, then disappear so that the paint could be left in the dark to glow.  However, even if no image is projected, digital projectors' version of "black" is still emitting light.  So I had to find a way to actually automate the projector let the image be projected for about 20 seconds, and then be blocked entirely from shining for another two minutes or so, then to be refreshed by the next image showing through, and so on and so forth.

SO, I had to dip into the world of mechanics and design a gear box.  I learned quite a bit about gear ratios and gear trains, and simple mechanical equations.

Then I unleashed my inner child and went to town with a motorized K'nex set, stepping down a 66 rpm motor to a wheel that would rotate at roughly .5 rpm, systematically blocking the image and letting it through as it rotated!

 Attached to the projector, installed in the ceiling, it looked like this (minus the actual wheel that would block the light)

Then I fashioned a circular mask for the projector lens and a gobo-type wheel:

Then to install.  I spent a lot of time on ladders that day.  Up in the ceiling is a power strip connected to a laptop, the projector, and the k'nex motor.

Ultimately the result was this (with the lights on)

Finally, with the lights off, as you would see it in the show, you get this! Ta-Dah!

projection shining through

projection blocked, residual glow showing

 I'm working on editing together a video for my website of the piece.  I'll add a link to it when it's complete.

But there you have it!  The first known artistic use of glow in the dark photo-capturing (at least as far as google is concerned)!

I claim it!!

It's mine!  I claim intellectual property rights (or however that works...) for this discovery, which I made earlier this semester - it was pointed out to me that no one I've talked to has ever heard of this being done, and I decided to do a bit of internet research and so far have found no examples of it in google search or google images:

It turns out that if you digitally project an image onto a surface that's coated with glow-in-the-dark paint, the paint is actually activated to varying degrees by the different wavelengths of colored light, and therefore actually captures a record of the image in its glow!

I'm installing an art piece that uses this idea as we speak for this projection class exhibit next week.  I'll go more into that later, but for now I just wanted to solidify record that I have made this discovery and posted proof of it here at exactly 12:26 am, on 4/28/2012, before some internet savvy artist beats me to the punch!

Here's an example - when playing around with projecting white light onto the glow in the dark paint, exposing it for various durations, I accidentally projected just an image of my desktop onto the surface for a moment:

When I hastily covered the projector so as not to expose the paint (and therefore have to wait for it to stop glowing before continuing my experiment) this is what I saw...

CRAZY, HUH?? (yeah I know. whoopee. let's move on)
then when trying to turn off my projector, it flashed the "press the power button again to power off" sign, which then also got recorded on the board, superimposed on the fading desktop image.  You can see the darkened horizontal rectangle below.

The image then remains for a good half minute, even when the projection (at 300 lumens from roughly 4 feet away) only shines on it for no more than 5 seconds!

So let this be confirmation that today I have laid claim to this discovery (which was actually made, according to the timestamp in the images I posted, on Monday, March 19 2012, at 3:11 pm).

More on what I'm actually doing with this discovery soon!

Finished Shadow Project, and an Exhibition!

At long last, I've finished the shadow projection/painting project, just in time for my Gallery Show at the school!  If you're near Montclair, NJ, I highly encourage you to come by the MFA gallery in Montclair State University's Finley Hall to see the two person show (myself and E. Dannielle Slaughter).  It's quite a show, if I do say so myself.  I know, I know, NOBODY knows where Finley Hall is.  Well here, now you have no excuse!

BUT, I do understand we live in a virtual world, so in case you don't have the luxury of coming by and spending some time with the work in person, here's a video walkthrough of the show for you!  Enjoy!

Since this show is the culmination of projects that spanned the better part of the semester, here are some links to my posts of the development of the project, so you can look back and track the history of this show!

Origins of the Idea

Origins of the Idea II

Marionette Shadow Puppet Tai-Chi

Shadows and Fuzzy Mittens

Drawings

Painting Update/Drawings II

Drawings III

Drawings IV

Some Inspiration/Drawings V

Painting Update II

Which leads us to here:  The installation.

my notes for the layout of the installation

arranging prints of each frame of painting from the video projection

I wanted the room, upon entrance, to reflect the feeling of "trying to figure something out," so I arranged images of the stages of development of the video painting, mixed with some of my drawings.  Then I arranged the shapes I used and lit them to project shadows onto the arrangement, which I then traced in charcoal.  All of this essentially amounts to the process, both mentally and physically, of arriving at the video projection, which would be hung opposite it inside the room.

This is where it got really interesting - trying to figure out a way to jerry-rig a projector ceiling mount.  I wanted to solve the issue of technological clutter that so many of our MSU shows have encountered, by essentially hiding everything in the ceiling.  Thank God for drop ceilings, because they are excellent for suspending milk crates and concealing power cords, surge protectors, extension chords, and computers.  Yes, even the computer is stashed up there!  I was then able to build a platform to hold the projector, housed by the milk crate as follows.

lining up the image with the canvas: lots of shims involved 

I was then able to use black mesh fabric to soften the lighting, giving the warm orange glow and shadows, but lessening the impact it had on the projection.  I had to do a lot of messing with the projection to simulate the conditions/visual effects I got when creating the piece.  For one, lining up the projected image with the canvas was a nightmare!  Secondly though, the projector I had in my studio was 800 lumens dimmer than the one in this installation and also had different color settings.  So I had to play with the brightness of the projector and adjust the color settings to reproduce all the wonderful things that happened in my studio (Documenting this piece will be tough because of these sort of "intentional accidents" that can only really exist when viewing the piece in person).

I also used moveable walls in the back of the space (to cover up a whole bunch of pipes) and to create a hallway from the main gallery into this project space.  Finished the job with some directional signs, hung my drawings, messed with lighting, and voila!  The final touches included papering over a window so that, in the midst of the sanctuary-esque moment my installation would provide, you wouldn't see Dannielle's video of a woman taking a bite out of the head of a chocolate baby in your periphery!  Kinda ruined the mood.

I'll update my website with the finished projection piece soon, but until then, here's the raw compiled video footage of the piece (about 18 min long, ordinarily projected on a loop).  Sometime I'd like to play around with audio for it too... some sort of Radiohead/Brian Eno/drone music seems appropriate, but it has to be just right.  Anyway, enjoy!