I’ve been working on these slow animation tests for a physical and digital installation. Each video is a portal, a window, a glimpse into an alternate world ruled by light even as one seeks the darkness.

Glimpses into alternate worlds        Inner places of membrane,                   corpuscles,                       cells, genes…

Non-terrestrial visions       of star systems, of the                    unknown

         sublime     and                inexplicable

Light and Darkness                                overwhelms and soothes,           

terrifies and comforts                                  as we are lost          in the

                             Beauty and Pain of Light.

**** NOTE: Please be patient. It takes about 20 seconds to notice… well, you will see.

Corpuscles

Killer Star

Glimpse into Studio Process:

Having worked as a painter and collage artist for many years, animation is an exciting departure from my normal process. I am exploring how to animate still images as a form of expanded cinema….

The concept behind this installation is for a two-part piece, a sort of diptych of rooms around the theme of light/dark, photosensitivity, & hyper-awareness. These videos will be installed in “Room 2” of the diptych.

Tentatively titled NeverWhere, it is immersive but contemplative. Instead of overwhelming the participant, it is meant to be an “in-between place” of removed meditation, a room of observation where animations provide “portals” to alternate dimensions/universes of sublime light and dark visions. The viewer should feel lost in-between these visions, gazing out but never getting to be in the alternate worlds. It is not a negative space, rather a neutral space that is, while safe, inactive. The room is painted a matte black: ceiling, floor, and walls. The only illumination comes from six LCD flat HD screens embedded in recessed “windows” The screens will display slow animation videos. The videos “animate” still photos by having them slowly morph into another image. 

A lot of research, planning, exploration, and Adobe Premier experimentation went into this process. Through SAIC’s LRMFA program, I work with Casey Puccini, an amazing film teacher who does such a great job talking to this non-film artist about film. I feel like I’ve learned so much, and am incredibly excited to learn more. We designed a plan specifically to develop and test my ideas for this particular installation. I knew what I wanted, and had to figure out the process of getting there.

As I develop the architectural ideas around the installation, I’ll post more about specifics. For now, here are some peeks into the process and idea.

Proprioception ¹ = to take or grasp in relative position to the body in movement.

Prehension ¹ = uncognitive apprehension, a form of grasping at aspects of the world

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1. Thanks to Kathryn Alder for bringing these terms and the writings of Alfred North Whitehead to my attention.