Monday, August 15, 2011

More Studio Play - Make It Glow On 'Em

You may have noticed that in my ongoing investigation of artificial light I have developed a relationship with the old 'outer glow' Photoshop effect.  It's just so...
Anyways, stemming from that practice, I have begun to experiment with glow sticks, as they exist IRL, yet possess that outer glow associated with fluorescence. They are quite the ball of metaphor when you think about light as an analogy for truth. They are human engineered, user activated, temporary, come in many colors; the list can go on.
These are some very basic, preliminary sketches.  Eventually, I want to actually make some 'permanent' versions to be shown in a gallery or show; maybe some '2-D' and some '3-D'.  They would be designed beforehand, activated and constructed the day of the show (glued together on panels I suppose), then left to fade away over the course of the show, leaving only the lifeless mass as artifact.
Besides a metaphor for truth or enlightenment, I also sort of see this as a commentary on the popularization of ephemeral art like performance and relational aesthetics versus the imperative for salable goods in the gallery.

For the most part, these are not Photoshopped, i.e., no special filters or effects have been used to alter the images, just a little cropping and minimal color correction.
The first five were taken in total darkness.  All are arranged on white illustration board, 20"x30".







The one below was taken in dim lighting.


The one below was taken the next day, in full light, after the chemical reaction that causes the glow had run its course.