Images

These are a couple of images I took and edited using a mobile phone application.

Ink

 

These images have stemmed from the photograph I had previously taken and edited. (Top left). This image (top right) was created by getting 'rubbings' of the ground to create a textured surface. I then painted in the shadow to make a representation of the initial image. However I believe it lacks an ethereal edge. 

I believe that I was more successful in creating an ethereal representation in this image (right) as the form is contingent on it's context, rather than existing independently. This image was made by tracing over the initial photograph in order make a stencil, which I then sprayed over with coloured ink.

I did the same with this image (below) however I used an inverted stencil to create a more defined or literal effect.

I liken this experiment to work by American Artist Richard Hambleton. This Untitled piece by Hambleton is made with acrylic paint on paper. Even though I used ink instead of paint, I believe that I have been able to create a similar spontaneous effect.



Acrylic on paper



Acrylic and gouache on paper.

These paintings are a part of the Shadow-man series (1982) which started out as a series of public art pieces however they are now retained in different galleries. Hambleton describes his work by saying "what makes them exciting is the power of the viewer's imagination. It's that split-second experience when you see the figure that matters". This almost resembles the psychological idea of projections, as the viewer is using their own 'imagination' to make sense of the image.

Projections

 
This is a brief experiment I did with an oil lamp projector. In some of the images I managed to capture a shadow.


I was inspired by a light architect named Mike Leonard who is popular for creating light shows for the band 'Pink Floyd' during the '60s. He used a custom built light projector to create the effect of movement when a template is placed in front of the light. Leonard would often improvise his light shows to music. 

I have also been looking at work by Marc Boyle who has also been involved with musicians in the 1960s, producing liquid light shows. Here, Boyle improvises a light show to Pink Floyd's 'Astronomy Domine'. 

(Source(s): http://dangerousminds.net/comments/mike_leonard_the_man_who_created_pink_floyds_light_show_magic)

A quote

"You know nothing about the world out there. You have no reason to believe that you inhabit the world of trees, houses, cats and dogs ... For all you know, your entire world - including the people in it - is virtual ... We are prisoners within our own minds."

-  Stephen Law in his book 'The Complete Philosophy Files" (pg.53)

Light Experiment

A brief light experiment, related to work by Marc Boyle.

I created this through the use of an application called 'Video-cam-illusion' which allows the user to manipulate the quality of environment with different camera settings. Here, I set the filter to the 'thermal' option and the effect to 'mosaic' then recorded the charger lights on my laptop.

I integrated the sense of movement by moving the camera and not the lights themselves. 

Double Projection

Created using two projectors.

I used the oil lamp projector as well as the video projector to provide more interesting imagery. 

Anamorphic Distortions

Here, I revisted my initial experiments to see if any improvements could be made.

My attempts at representing illusion in drawing through anamorphic distortion.

And anamorphic distortion is when an image is drawn in a 'stretched-out' way so when viewed from a specific angle it seems 3 dimensional. This effect is usually achieved when the image is viewed through a camera lense due to eliminating any peripheral vision. The purpose of this kind of drawing is to make it look as if the image is going into or sitting on top of the page. 

       

This was my first attempt at creating an anamorphic drawing. I was quite pleased with the initial results as I managed to create the effect I wanted, however I needed to hone my ability to represent form and shape as well as the desired effect.

This was my second attempt at representing the same object. Because I knew how to create the anamorphic distortion I tried to focus on shape and form, which seemed to have been more successful in this trial. Also, I have been more successful in representing the shadow projected from the object, which is important in creating an anamorphic illusion. 

This object was quite difficult to represent as it possesses very little form however I am quite pleased with the results.

I derived this style of drawing from street artist Julian Beever who often does Trompe Loeil and anamorphic chalk drawings on pavements around the world, some of which have been kept permanent. Beever, like Hoogstraten, had an eye for the illusion of scale and how this may affect the viewer's perception. 

Beever would start by drawing the outline of the image with white chalk while checking the image through the camera as he went along to see if the anamorphic distortion was correct, he made sure of this by using the camera as a reference point. Once this stage of drawing is correct the artist then adds the details however this too is very complicated as it has to be made sure that every detail is distorted according the image. Beever mentioned that the most difficult part of drawing anamorphic images is the shadow which he calls a "Projection within a projection". 

Teoh Yi Chie writes "You know your eyes are playing tricks on you but you can't really figure out what's happening". So it seems as though the artist is distorting  the environment which is almost a platonic concept as the artists uses false projections that give the impression of reality when it may not be the case. 

(source(s): http://julianbeever.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1&Itemid=1 book: Pavement Chalk Artist, http://www.parkablogs.com/content/book-review-pavement-chalk-artist-three-dimensional-drawings-of-julian-beever)