Saturday 23 May 2015

Concepts & Contexts - Installation

These images are taken from an installation I produced for my second module assessment (Concepts & Contexts). This was the largest installation I have produced to date, giving me the opportunity to test my ideas on a suitable scale. The assessment took place in a fully blacked out room which is usually used for photography lectures. The three animations I projected were my most recent works, and it was the first time I have viewed them in this kind of context.

Since first creating fractured images in my studio I have wanted to try making work large enough for the viewer to move through it. Here I was able to realise this. In one of the images you can see some of my peers walking through the installation. Their human silhouettes are projected onto, becoming part of the work.

This experience really helped me to clarify how I want proceed with my investigation. The main points arising from it were:

1) I want to try projecting onto different size/shaped screens & warping the picture plain.

2) I also want to explore projecting different animations from facing or angled positions onto a central arrangement of panels, looking at how animations can be layered/mixed.

3) The software I am currently using (Photoshop) is now limiting what I can achieve. I intend to begin experimenting with Resolume Avenue and After Effects.

4) Projecting onto transparent screens will allow the same part of an image to travel further and appear on multiple screens.

5) I want to continue to experiment on a large scale, creating work which the viewer is able to  move through.

One of the most valuable things to come out of this exercise was finding a great venue to test my ideas. Hopefully I will be using this space again through the summer months to test new work.










Wednesday 20 May 2015

Working with layers continued.

A selection of images I have been working on, made from layering and manipulating my latest set of ink scans. They feel much less contrived than earlier experiments, appearing to have a longer material history. This is evident in the time it has taken to create each mark or gesture. To me earlier works made from a limited range of repeated marks often felt cruder and more instant.  



Sunday 17 May 2015

Projection Mapping

Projection Mapping is something which until now I have purposefully not investigated. I have been interested in its use in the work of others, but have excluded it from my own investigation. This is because I have wanted to see how my work would be warped/affected, through projection onto irregular surfaces in different contexts.

However, with projection mapping I could go someway to negate the effects of different physical contexts. This would let me compare and contrast how a projection-mapped, and a non projection-mapped image 'work' in different spaces. Many people use projection mapping to create site specific work which reacts to the environment. But I may be able to use it to hide the differences in the environment, and present a standardized image.

I have found this link to free projection-mapping software. This has made experimenting with this process a realistic option.

http://pwl.bigfug.com/


Painting With Light

If you follow the link to my MA Pinterest boards it will become clear how my reference has evolved though this investigation. Moving from those that physically paint, to those that paint with light.

I have always viewed painting as a very primary way of making work, the artist is in direct contact with the pictures surface, and his/her hands movement across its surface can often be traced. I have always thought this record of human physicality creates dialogue with the viewer through which we can connect with a work. However if I project light there is no physical object, the image has had to go through secondary digital process, somewhat removing it from from my initial ink sketches.

Yet I feel that I connect more with my current projected work than any earlier paintings I have produced. The question I have been asking myself is why?

These are some of my current thoughts on the matter:

1) Light has luminance, a warmth which may in ultimately on some level remind us of the sun. Maybe it is this association which also makes me feel that using light is somehow more direct. Painting is a way of trying to translate/record effects of light. Projecting the image in a way feels like cutting out the middle man.

2) Because I'm projecting I can easily work on a larger scale, therefore it is much more possible for me to immerse the viewer.

3) To create an effective image I need to have near black environment. This has the affect of cutting out peripheral information, and creates a mediative space.

One artist whose work I have keep getting drawn to is Olafur Eliasson. His work centres on investigating how our perceptions are altered by light & colour. Often recreating natural phenomena such as rainbows the sun, mist, rain and waterfalls. He often works on large scale immersive projects, Two words I would us to describe his work would be Sublime and Metaphysical, Yet in all interviews I have read he himself has avoided this terminology.




















https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9djOOuT6duU





Friday 15 May 2015

Layers In Projection

This link was kindly suggested to me by one of my peers http://sbinsafwan3.workflow.arts.ac.uk/projection-installation


It shows projections where images gradually fade as they pass through layers of material. I believe the material used is the scrim used to make silk screens, but any kind of thin woven fabric would likely produce similar results. I will look to experiment with different textiles to see if this layering/fading could further compliment my fractured image experiments.

Thursday 14 May 2015

Mark-making animations 2


LLOYD EVANS Handwriting3.mp4 from Lloyd Evans on Vimeo.



LLOYD EVANS Handwriting4 from Lloyd Evans on Vimeo.

Mark-making animations

I have experimented animating some of my recent paintings. While I feel these are a step forward, I think they also highlight the limitations of the software I am using. I now feel it is vital to explore other software packages to move my work forward.



LLOYD EVANS Handwriting1.mp4 from Lloyd Evans on Vimeo.



LLOYD EVANS Handwriting2.mp4 from Lloyd Evans on Vimeo.



Mark-Making

In these works I have deliberately used smaller, and more varied marks. On reflection I see them echoing artists such as  Mark Tobey, Cy Twombly or Julie Mehretu, where mark-making becomes a form of handwriting. Each mark being another character in an unknown language. I think they have more for the eye to 'look' for, this level of visual interest will hopefully fair better when projected at a much larger scale. 




New works

The following images were made in reaction to observations made in the previous post. They have all been created from whole layers of marks, nothing here is duplicated.
As a result I feel these outcomes are more engaging, there being more visual interest to hopefully hold the viewers attention for longer. I also believe The quality of line has improved with this more 'primary' approach to mark-making.







New Ink Layers

Reviewing my work to date, I have concluded that the more successful images are those where whole layers of brush-marks have been scanned and used to build the work. As apposed to images made from individual custom brush-marks. I believe these images feel more natural or fluid, every mark is unique, while in many earlier works the whole image could be made from just 5-10 marks. These marks being reflected, rotated, scaled, etc. Therefore I have created a whole new range of layers to make future work from.