From the show...

The show 'get lost swirly eyes' was a success.

Get lost swirly eyes -- statement

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Too bad it was only able to exist for 4 days. It existed in my head much longer, but with that in mind, I have only been inspired to continue making art.
As my first installation piece, I was unsure of how the viewer might take to the work. I had hopes of success (in the 'fine art' nature), with the viewers left intrigued and stimulated. It is one thing to create art, but if you cannot evoke something from the viewer, sometimes I wonder...why? My goal for this work was to change the mind set of the viewer and take them to another state of consciousness.
Many good reactions to the installation really gave me a great sense of closure. I loved watching people walk inside just to discover astroturf, and then step on it as if it was the first time. I loved how many wondered whether you should pass to the other side of the tapestry- many unsure and left to only pear through the most iridescent square patched in.


The viewers that chose to sit on the design-esque mustard colored pillows, to watch the awkward, yet seemingly pleasurable video.

The comments of "this is sick dude" or the ones trying to pick my brain to discover what is is I was trying to 'say.'

This was a great experience- one I hope to reincarnate with other installations in the future!
Enjoy the photos -- Nichole

INSTALLED.

Finally "get lost swirly eyes" is installed.
Video is done, after much pain in the butt dealing with Standard DVD compressions. Cyanotype is up. Mustard yellow prayer pillows rest on the intricately cut astroturf. Mini fences stand amongst multicolored dangling lights as yarn reaches to a perspective point. You can walk, sit, watch, feel, get lost - while your eyes get swirly!
Pictures to come soon.

and so it continues...

counting down the days till install...
That is on Friday round 2pm. This is when I will put all my efforts into the black gallery.
Currently I have the lights figured out for the most part.
Cyanotype fabric screen done.
Video is done...1/2 way done with audio.
For the most part... I'm kicking it through. Moment of truth is the INSTALL!

light configurations?

here are some samples of light configuration I have been exploring with the extenders.

these are not finalized. I will finalize the structures in the installation as I work with the space and what suits best. just possibilities being explored! may need to invest in more of the extenders. I don't seem to have enough to use all the bulbs. The more bulbs the better! I want the intensity of the colors in the space to make an impact on the viewer. So many more bulbs without a home. They will find one!
starting to look like atomic make-ups. I like!

making it BLACK

because I am in the black gallery, i have chosen to allow certain elements, particularly of circuitry, to blend in with the "natural surroundings" of the gallery.
I have painted the bulb holders black and connected them to their power source.

Black electrical tape has been wrapped around the dual wires to conceal them, and to keep the wires in place.

Don't want those guys poppin out in the installation.

I've realized I enjoy the look of the opaque bulbs more than the iridescent. Just contacted The East Bay Depot of Creative Reuse and they informed me they still have more bulbs! Gonna go get some more! The more the merrier!

Thought ---- light bulbs are placed at the end of a semi-curving PVC tube with the bulb popping out the end. Great way to conceal the wire easily, and provide an almost "optical" aesthetic...these are the lights in your brain! Digging in the brain. My favorite!

FYI

Copper wire conducts way too much power and causes a flaming spark pop. Say no no to copper wire when working with simple circuits!

Progressin!

So my progress has been great.
Now I am working on hooking up all the light bulbs that will beyond the tapestry (still need to get a photo up of this thing, though it is huge and requires a group effort to photograph). The lights of multiple colors will hint colors through the fabric and create intrigue on the other side.

Behold the bounty of bulbs.
(some are opaque while others are iridescent. both have a different appearance when lit.)

20 lights in total.
opaque small :
pink / 2 , red /1 , orange / 2 , turquoise /2 , perrywinkle blue / 1 , green / 1 , baby yellow / 6
opaque balls :
red / 1
iridescent small :
green / 2 , blue / 1
iridescent large :
orange ball / 1 , yellow spotlight / 1 , red spotlight / 1

^ the difference between opaque and iridescent.

These light are strong. It's amazing, if you look at one color then close your eyes you see the opposite hue. The good ole color staring trick.

There has been quite a process of troubleshooting how to hook these up. At first I automatically thought "clip lights" but realized I could do something else. Here is the equipment I have found that seem to work.

light sockets with output wires to connect to the power chord source

amazing what you can do with all these light bulb extenders (new project inspiring!) my housemates think I'm a mad scientist.

light bulb sockets to be modified. scavenged from UrbanOre in Berkeley.

this too. sprocket goes to power source. small insert head for wires. i had to test this out first a behold it worked, and so I went to hoard as many as I could get!

this is how you get the bulb to work. so simple, so amazing!

Thank goodness for Steve Durie's Art 106 class, or I would be completely in the dark with all this wiring stuff! Now I'm in the multi-colored lights! Cheers!

Hmmmmm....something gets me thinkin about motion sensors right now...hmmmm

here we come

Here we come days counting down.

I wanted to share the process of creating the tapestry a.k.a. projection screen.
I have created all the cyanotype photograms on fabric. There are a multiple pieces that will be "patched together, with other iridescent fabric of that similar blue color to fill in the blank spots. I created two layouts that I am thinking of working with. The labels only pertain to identifying the piece of fabric. The entire tapestry needs to be 13 ft wide by 9ft tall.
A) B)
The sewing machine is wound, and ready to be put to work. Lets see what happens.

Update - Template B was applied to the final design.

I have one more part to the video to render out. Then sound needs to be applied. I would upload the video but it is quite large! Just have to wait and see. Maybe youtube in the future.

I have decided to use multiple colored light bulbs to add to the sensory effect on the other side of the tapestry. I have configured a way to hook these up so that they will hang.

Here is the flyer.

After much a summer of...

collecting video, etc... and becoming more inspired (as I am everyday) the idea of irony continues to inspire me.
Irony surrounds everything. It encompasses the world and universe. It does take a keen eye to take notice.
The extreme versus the low key.
The pleasant versus the interrupting.
A beautiful flower versus a lingering wasp.
A mellow song versus a shrieking scream.

Irony. It is everywhere... it molds perception. It confronts reality.
The sways of the day. Miraculous.

With this in mind I have still been debating the installation beyond the cyanotype sky. Interactive? I think it should be. Contrasting of two sides of the threshold. What is beyond? Look further.

well, hello there!

As of now my show is posted up for Sept. 26 - 30.

My summer has been spent collected much video footage for the video.
I will start to compile this footage soon, and let things start to fall together. When I work with video, I hope to find a sensation that inspires me. The process is very linear, as I do not work with a strict time-line. I allow each cut and edit to fall into place in a natural sense.

a metaphor???

A metaphor to the functioning of the brain.......
How we may easily go on a tangent....and become inspired by our own thoughts....yet how they can become manifested in the brain through visual intake, and the ability to imagine....Amazing......

Forces acting in the installation ---->
Upon entering....you meditate on the image before you...with imagery and sound combined, you then seek a gateway in the fence....it begs you to enter to the other side...as you can vaguely see through- the light shining through the sheer hanging fabric....you enter...................
and you experience.
still being influenced by the outside world....that you just came from...yet experiencing a separate reality or figment of imagination....

could this be seen as a Narrative?

con-tem-plate

more contemplations.....
[I am glad to be able to spend some quality time being able to get in touch with my BFA show, and the art that it will present. Unfortunately during the school year you get so bombarded by multiple projects, that you lose touch of your true inspiration. You become inspired by the new information being learned, but ideas that have been "soaking" for awhile get lost; especially in regards to a specific project, mine being my final BFA show. I will have all summer to get in touch with the elements of my BFA show. My main concern right now is the content. Especially in regards to the imagery and sound...... this summer i will turn into an investigator of these two elements that will be an evident element in the installation created.]

SOUND.....
I don't want the sound to become irrelevant. Because I am creating a "world" where you are able to take part in a dualistic experience of reality and the unknown, or unconscious (or subconscious?).... I want the sound to reflect this.
One day I was going to class and a "hum" in the wind reminded me of a meditative chant, later to realize this "meditative chant" was the echo of a lawn mower. If something so mundane as a lawnmower could make such a sound, what could I do by using sound editing software?
Knowing musicians, and being an enthusiast myself, I would like to create my own sounds. The "track" will be formed by mundane sounds, and instrumental experimentation. I will become a collector of sounds...(as I am already a collector of images). It will be strictly experimental, but in a sense trying to create an ambient sound. The inspiration comes from musicians in my life, and the artist in myself, that yearns to create music, though I cannot play an instrument - unless you consider a few organ cords, tap dance rhythms, finger snaps, and sing-a-long attempts? (lets just say I'm not a "serious" musician. More of an enthusiast . An experiment, for sure!

Title?
...thought of a title today... IN-TAKE
----- play on words? metaphorical?
comes from the idea that you will be drawn "in" to the other side, to pass through a "threshold" as Jillian referred, and experience another side. "Take" is to "take-in" the ambient and immersible environment to find an ESCAPE.

It will be an ESCAPE!

Create a World : a big fat mess (obvious frustrations)

Today, the discussion of my BFA ponderings has lead to some important functioning within my installation.

Imagery- how does imagery play out meaning? DC suggests that there be some logical order of the images. How do they form a cohesive meaning...or suggest something, without becoming TOO random.
The other side of the fence- what is on the other side? Since the viewer is asked to become a participator and venture to the other side of the "passage" what will they encounter?
-plaster formed ducks- laser cut dead roses- El Wire smiley face- (shrine- of gathered objects)- how do i work with the walls (paint & protrusion), ceilings (hanging things) "Please, come to the other side, and let your curiosity become exploited"-

Explanation of the Fence and how it contributes. I have been pondering a reworking of the fence and how it plays with the drawing in of the viewer. As if to enter a world that is not tangible, thought I am making it tangible by creating this installation.

Project Proposal "Fence"

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These video inspire me to what is possible for the video to be projected onto the photograms.

Video Feedbackteria - Demo from Bright Eye Cinema on Vimeo.

Explorations for BFA

Goals
-create a mood / change the mind of the viewer / alter their current state of consciousness
-encourage interaction
- engulf a space in fantasy
- suggestive imagery lends to thought
- visual illusion
______________
from the initial set up of the cyanotype photograms, and the fence
(*thought- place a small area for people to walk through to the other side of the hanging cyanotype photograms, create small door in fence, "beware of dog", this allows the viewer to enter to the back side of the installation, here the perception has changed, as they may vaguely be able to see the onlookers on the other side, and the streams of this from the projection.)
(*thought 2- swirly of mandala like shapes create with particular imagery, send a "trance" visual into the viewer)
(*thought 3- paint the walls in the space, so that there is black and white happening, like a radial patter, such as the cliche radiations from a sun, coming from the center [or near center] of the room, this will play with the effect of the black light, as well a perception of the viewer, may possibly encourage the viewer to peer inward, to literally be "drawn" into the symbolic sky as video projections function with it.)
(*inspiration- Ethan Turpins video feedback loop, a participatory element is encouraged through participation with the projection. RESEARCH)

IDEAS

I had a strike of ideas as I was pondering a project in Art 172. I am going to be making 1 hanging sculpture for the class ( with the possibility of creating a 2nd), and was thinking it may work well in my BFA show.

Here are the elements to ponder for my BFA show.
- 2 sculpture lamps.
+exterior is laser etched on both sides with matching images.
1) rose
2) duck
These images will be bent-laminated around a curved form with multiple pieces of wood glued underneath to create a stable structure. There will be two of each, which will then come together in a tear-like shape. A small cube with laser etched detail will suspended in the middle with electrical components to compliment. The rose will contain LED lights to cast lighted forms on the inside of the crescent shapes, and the duck will contain a sound- snippet [ or so I brainstorm!!!!! :) ]
MORE images to come regarding actual orientation and form of the sculpture.

life size _______

DIORAMA?
I feel as if my installation has become this life size diorama.
Is this a bad thing? (I used to make dioramas as a child)
Maybe my interest in creating a space that pursues mood and mentality in viewers has been incubating for some time now.

Because of nostalgia..........
I was thinking of what my audio would be. Could it be a reciting of old poetry I have written. Is this too much?
Or a composed track of words and sounds?

I like the idea of puzzles.
Going back to the idea of how images can assume something in the viewer, words can also assume something. People associate words with certain things.......
i.e.... >
[orange > juice ,
fight > club ,
green > go ,
seat > up ]
-------------------------------------
laser stuff to be cut? etched?

Factors of the space

There are a few factors I must work out in order to make sure the space is functioning to its maximum potential (though this does sound odd)

Black Gallery Troubleshooting

Lighting-
>what kind of bulbs does it take
>do they make black light bulbs for that type?
>if not, is there a way to plug in a bulb from a different outlet?

Wall
> what are the measurements on the wall (far wall, as you peer in)
> this will help gauge the type of projector needed

so far this is all the things I can think of.

thought...

what do you associate an image with. this is a subjective perspective. this perspective may be informed through many influences including- your personal experiences, outside influences, life style among other things.

Delays

My BFA show will presume next semester unless by some chance of fate someone cancels the black gallery at a later date!

positive is more time to work on on it! and to possibly improve the installation.

here is an idea of some of the imagery that will be inside the video.
Another emphasis I would like to embrace, is the amazement I have in simple tools such a photoshop, where you are able to alter the coloration of an image so simply. I have often found myself working with an image and then moving the saturation toggle back and forth "oooohing" and "ahhhing" at the changes. There is a way to actual animate these images so that you don't have to toggle the tab, but just sit back and watch. Parts of the montage will incoorporate this simple plug-in effect.




There will be MORE imagery, don't worry- this is not a rose and decoy show!

idea

Have the fabirc projection screen "blown up" by a fan from behind, so that it appear like a bubble, with minimal amounts of movement. this will allow for a more interesting surface.

Cyanotype Photograms

Solution = Cyanotype [a sun sensitive solution that can be applied to multiple types of porous materials to create anything from a photographic image to a simple impression]
Material = Teashot white
Size = approx. 5-6 yards each
Imagery includes......human, wood cut-outs, records, hoop, various weeds, dried rose, orange and surrounding branches
More photograms will be made.
The imagery within the photograms will be re-photographed with a digital camera and then placed into a montage-esque video. (the term coined from the idea that a montage is a moving collage-from the Dada movement)
The photograms on fabric will serve as a projection screen for the video. This projection screen will be back lit with black light.
(the fabric will be washed and dried to release wrinkles!)

and.....thank you James Morgan for agreeing to be my Primary Advisor.

Thank you

Getting on board for my upcoming BFA show fills me with anticipation.
Thank you Shannon Wright for jumping on board with me. I greatly appreciate the support.

Upcoming tasks for the Installation:
Photographing objects for Video
- dried roses-
[from Grandmothers funeral]
- records-
[in homage to the therapy of music]
- decoy-
[homage to Grandfather]
-rosary-
[homage to Lola]
- circular monotype prints-
[mandalas - meditative]

Collection of imagery from External Hardrive for Video
Footage from EH for Video

Hoping for...

The Black Gallery

>dates still available (fingers crossed)<
Feb 7, 14, 21, 28
Mar 7, 14, 21
April 4, 11

The Idea

I have concluded what I would like my BFA show to consider.

I am interested in exploring the way that memories and imagery go hand in hand. It is interesting how imagery can vary and how it can evoke certain emotion within the viewer.

My goal, is to create an installation, that touches on certain elements of my own personal nostaglic experiences. The room will assume human relation to the content, though it may have a sense of surrealism to the mood. It will almost feel fantasy-like, as it you have stepped into an imaginary world.

Elements within the installation.
> Large pieces of fabric treated with cyanotype solution, to create life size photograms.
> The fabric will be peiceed together and back lit with black light to illuminate the elements.
(I am considering other colored lightings within the space to bring about a sense of surrealism)
> A video incorporating the elements within the photogram, to be projected onto the fabric.
> Laser cut silhouettes of the objects on the photogram. These elements will be smaller, and placed in front of the projector to allow for shadows to be cast.
(I am also considering creating larger laser cuts to be placed within the room to serve as imprintations of my nostalgic thoughts.

The imagery used is repeated to enforce the importance of these elements. The imagery is not directly related to the viewer, so the meaning is for their interpretation. The veiwer may find that these images provoke a memory or thought within themselves.

Titles to ponder>
IMAGINARY NOSTALGIA
NOSTALGINARY
IMPRINTED MEMORIES