Thursday, 26 January 2012
Final film for projection
The final installation sees the re-filmed and looped dissolving shadows projected onto two walls of the exhibition space, behind the suspended wax cardigans which appear to cast them. The film is purposely slowed with the edges of the projection faded - in order that the movement is initially subtle and visitors may be taken by surprise when they realise they are slowly disappearing. The domestic light bulbs within the space simultaneously cast real time shadows which sit amongst the projections.
Final film for projection
Dissolving fabric experiments
Going back to the notion of disappearance, I have discovered a material used for strengthening fabric during embroidery, which dissolves in water. To see how this works and whether it could be useful in my work I made a mitten shape out of the material and filmed the suspended form dissolving.
The experiment was successful so I tried it again on a larger scale - making a form of similar size and shape to that of the cardigans I have been working with. The cotton used to sew the pieces together prevents the dissolvable fabric from falling off in one big lump, it also means remnants of the form are left behind once the main body has dissolved.
As the experiments progressed, I began to focus upon the filming of the shadow rather than the object its self - the demise of the garments became more 'affective' when viewed in this representational form, hinting at happenings which are out of view and employing the power of the imaginary space.
The experiment was successful so I tried it again on a larger scale - making a form of similar size and shape to that of the cardigans I have been working with. The cotton used to sew the pieces together prevents the dissolvable fabric from falling off in one big lump, it also means remnants of the form are left behind once the main body has dissolved.
As the experiments progressed, I began to focus upon the filming of the shadow rather than the object its self - the demise of the garments became more 'affective' when viewed in this representational form, hinting at happenings which are out of view and employing the power of the imaginary space.
Film stills: The dissolving garment
Experiments in the exhibition space
The height of the suspended objects and light source and their distances from the wall surfaces all affect the clarity and size of the cast shadows. I took the wax objects and equipment into the space in which my work will be exhibited, blocked out external light with black out fabric, and experimented with altering these variables.
Preserve/Destroy/Unravel
Before immersing the cardigan in wax, I snipped a few threads and gradually unravelled some of the weave. The cardigan was then treated in the same way as the others - the holes grew bigger as the weight of the wax pulled the fabric down. The resulting piece has the appearance of being 'preserved' mid-destruction.
In the same way that recording sound allows it to exist outside of its original time and context, visual film creates the same possibility. I projected the film recording taken earlier of the moving shadow and suspended the now destroyed, still object in front of it. The spatial relationship between the two elements suggests that there is a connection between this object and its apparent shadow, but the shadow is of course behaving independently and is now dislocated from the object which originally produced it.
Filming a moving shadow
Developing the theme of an independently moving shadow, I decided to film the movement of a knitted cardigan before undergoing the wax immersion process in order that the recording could then be juxtaposed with the object after treatment.
The set up: 100 watt domestic light bulb, untreated cardigan and fan
Film still: Shadow in motion
Initial Installations
Inspired by the independent movement of shadows and hanging ropes at Ridley Road, I recereated elements within the studio space and experimented with moving the light source to animate the shadows.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)