Garrett Zopfi
Billy Frieble
Digital Studio
28 March 2012
Projection
Project
The central theme
of my work is an interplay on light and dark and how the most concrete forms of
communication deal with a reading of the relationship between positive and
negative.
I have previously
been interested with ideas of positive-negative interplay and the semiotics of
the relationship. I explored this relationship in a previous class in a book
assignment. In the book I personified a shadow; the result of light reacting with
the relationship between positive and negative forms.
In the book, the
shadow was personified in such a way as to foster self-projection onto the
character in part by the viewer. It sought to create an archetypal exploration
into interpersonal relationships and dependant relationships.
The book contains
illustrations that are reminiscent of shadow theatre and shadow animations from
the 1930s. The illustrations worked well conceptually and ultimately worked
well with the projection project.
Early on in the
process I knew that I wanted to play around with shadow puppet imagery again. I
wanted to use the technology of the projector to create an organic environment
threw witch to tell a story. Originally I planned on translating the book I did
in a previous class into an animation.
I abandoned this idea because I wasn’t really feeling it and I
encountered a few roadblocks while I was teaching myself the animation program.
I now feel more comfortable using the program but I would still like to find a
better method to execute the task.
The roadblocks I
encountered while learning flash and experimenting with the digital tool set
available in the program ate up allot of animation time. By the time I felt
comfortable with using the program I was running out of time in which to
animate. I knew I wouldn’t have had enough time to do a good animation of the
whole story so instead I opted to change what I was projecting to something
that was more reasonable to create and still left me with enough time incase
something went horribly wrong.
I then moved onto
an idea of exploring people’s relationship between language and images. In my
psychology class we just learned about written language acquisition and how
people interpret the image of words with experiences with the abstract or
physical concept that relates to the word. This then led me to think about how
written language started in the simple process of incising lines into clay or
wax tablets. This then led to surface based written languages where pigment was
applied to a surface but it still, in form, resembles the original process of
incision. This was a relationship between the positive and negative.
This thought
process then merged with my learning about language acquisition through flash
cards and how language acquisition has become a very visual practice. This
translated into my projection in my take on an animal alphabet code.
I already had an
academic interest in codes and encryptions in art from my previous study of
sculptor Jim Sanborn’s work. This background knowledge partnered with an
interest in semantics and visual language proved to create the perfect
launching point from which to extrapolate my projection.
I decided to code
the word “breathe” into my projection because there would have already been
clues to the word in my classmate’s projection that was happening a few feet
from my own. I consulted various teaching websites to come up with my animal
alphabet; taking bits and pieces from many sources.
The idea of coding a message
through a visual and pseudo-written form also worked conceptually with my
projection space, a library.
I enjoy starting
digital work physically. There is a creative block for me when I try to work on
something purely digitally. I created the figure shadow puppet out of cut paper
and the animals were drawn physically and then manipulated digitally to mimic
shadow puppets. I like this merger of traditional and new media and think it
lends more of an organic quality to digital work that can sometimes feel cold
and sterile. This cold sterility is something I sought to avoid because I was
directly channeling a nostalgic animation form in my projection in order to tap
into more innate and visceral experiences.
I also had to
think about my work and how it was relating to the person’s work who I was
sharing the projection space with. I had been interested in working
collaboratively for a while and this project wound up accidentally becoming a
sort of partnership.
The first task
that my space partner and I tackled was coming up with a surface to project on
that worked conceptually with both of our works. The solution came by
happenstance. I recently received a parking citation on a rainy day. I had an
uncommon reaction to getting a ticket. I was excited! I had been thinking about
a way to attach paper to the windows in the library that would be quick and
easy to throw up and take down and it was sitting in front of my eyes stuck to
my windshield with water. The way the water affects the bond paper that we
wound up using makes it look like rice paper, a traditional shadow-screen
material, and used the environment of my partner’s projection, water, to adhere
it to the windows. It was a match made in the heavens.
The second task
that we worked on together was coming up with transitions between our works so
that they felt like a continuous work when looped. The transition from my work
to her work is blue fire consuming my shadow-screen and revealing her oceanic
scene below. The transition from her last frame to my first frame is a very
slow fade to white that is pretty unnoticeable until my character walks across
the windows. Ultimately the two pieces were seamlessly merged together to
create a smooth and beautiful loop.
The finished
product is particularly strange. I never would have seen myself come to this
point from early on in the game. I like my projection in its conceptual and
physical nature. I combined an exploration into human language and semantics
with the projection space of the library; in this I channeled pre-historic cave
works like the hall of bulls, Eastern shadow-puppetry, a tie in with
shadow-animator Lotte Reiniger, a clever art historical reference to da Vinci
and an exploration into the visual nature of language acquisition and universal
symbolism.
The projection
from a holistic visual standpoint makes great use of the window space in its
composition.
However, without
inside knowledge into the projection, the projection was pretty obscure and
hard to read. I debated including a textual element in the end of my projection
but decided not to, fearing that it would take away from the visual nature of
the projection. Instead I decided on a type of encore of my alphabet animals.
While the projection was taking place I had the idea that it would have been
great to make my own alphabet animal chart and distribute it on site. This
would have fostered viewer interaction and would have clued people into the
projection without being overt.
Overall I think
the projection project went really well. I had a great experience sharing the
space with a classmate, I think conceptually the project worked really well and
I was really excited about working on it. I also gave myself enough time when I
changed my idea to do both the physical animation work but also give myself
enough time to work out the intelligent aspects of the work. I might have given
myself too much time because there were a lot of layers but ultimately my
experience with creating the work is what matters most and I think it was a
very positive experience.
I give myself an
a- for this project. I think I adapted well to the new software even though it
took forever for me to get the hang of it. I think I worked excellently with
the person I was sharing my projection space with. I think I creatively solved
the problem of creating a projection surface. I backlit a surface instead of
projecting onto it which I thought was really innovative. My projection made
good use of the space it was projected in and used the architectural elements
present in the surface. Ultimately I created a work that is uniquely mine that
I had a lot of fun making and experiencing.
