Project 2, phase 5
Project: Emergence and Navigating Space

When we talked about navigating space I immediately thought of choreography. I started thinking about what moving through a space means to me, and the types of boundaries, constraints and also possibilities that I recognize when I navigate through any given space. I find myself faced with with not only constraints but specifications of ballet, at their intersection with more fluid forms of dance, under the large umbrella term of "modern dance." I have an awareness that every time I move to dance i am negotiating this boundary, this line but also the convergence of these types of movement. I wanted to create a space that would become like a dance partner in that it would help me work through these constraints. All quarter long I have been grappling with the idea of imagery that corresponds with dance. I settled on videos that they themselves are also a movement through space, an autobiographical exploration of my travels over these past years.

Thu, Mar 20, 2008  Permanent link

Sent to project: Emergence and Navigating Space

Project 2 phase 4
Project: Emergence and Navigating Space

These are screencaps of my project.

Wed, Mar 19, 2008  Permanent link

Sent to project: Emergence and Navigating Space

Exercise 1: Images, and what they are at their essence
Project: Emergence and Navigating Space

I've been thinking a lot lately about images. It could have something to do with the fact that most of the work I do is based around images. I'm photo editor at the Bruin, and I spend a lot of time talking (some teaching, some learning myself) about pictures, the idea of photography and what it means to "be a photographer."

There is a lot of talk about what images mean; they can be associated with death or truth, to name the most common ones. The circles could go on forever "The truth in the images, of death in photography and truth in image, and image and death, and stillness in image, and image and truth..." and so on. I started wondering, all this theory and thinking stuff aside, what is it? At the core of its principles, it is standing in one place recording light waves.

This image to me represents photography, but also is its complete opposite. Cymatics is the study of wave phenomena. These images document waves and are semi-transparent so that overlapping waves can be viewed at once. It is from Eno Henze's Cortex I, Gesamtansicht (the online translator told me that "Gesamtansicht" means total view.



Though the waves documented are more sound waves and the like, that documenting other types of waves is similar and different to cymatics. On one hand, photography is standing still, and objects obscure the visual occurrences behind them. Cymatics allows waves to be documented with transparency.

On the other hand, photography is to observe, to take in light waves in a particular time in a particular space. I started thinking about imagery that could capture the essence of the cymatics concept. The walking feet create the waves of footsteps over time, and the street can be seen behind their moving forms.



I took this image a long time ago in San Francisco.

Mon, Feb 11, 2008  Permanent link

Sent to project: Emergence and Navigating Space

Visual Research
Project: Emergence and Navigating Space

Mon, Feb 11, 2008  Permanent link

Sent to project: Emergence and Navigating Space