Visual description: A partial scale model in wood and cardstock is finished by a 3D line drawing, the model-drawing is of a temporary street furniture.
How Do We Project Additional
2022 // THE CLEMENTE, LOWER EAST SIDE, NYC [USA]
Building on my work with room-sized camera obscura’s [MERT, Through Multiple Lenses] this iteration, split the room in half, to create a performance and an audience side. The wall had multiple lenses installed, for the audience to use screens and capture unique experiences of the performance for themselves; the screens enabled them to explore the projection of the performance space, but never see the entire space. This was a collaboration with Pedro Wainer.
The performance side lit by a large window, mixed the view of the city with the performers. Throughout the show musicians, dancers and other artists activated the performance side, along with artworks installed in the space.
Besides this, I set up a darkroom in the back and used the camera to make unique silver gelatin prints. The prints was merged with my poems, either I would scratch the text directly into the surface in the darkroom and then exposed, or by printing the poem on acetate, and then taping it in front of the paper, before exposing it. The poems and silver gelatins are exploration of my autistic/neuroqueer perception of the world.
Visual description: A plan drawing showing the layout of the space for How Do We Project. The drawing shows the light lock, used to enter the darker audience side, and how the large window to the exterior lights the performance side and drives the projections through the multiple lenses, indicated in red cones on the drawing. At the back of the audience space is a darkroom, used to develop unique silver gelatins.
View of the interior of the camera, the audience side. The multiple projections are captured on a range of different screens, incl. two fabric screens and a large movable translucent screen, allowing you to see the projection on both sides.
Video from the Opening
Visual Description: Two photos staged. Showing the multipel lenes installed on plywood bases on to a black wall. The top photo is from the performance side and the bottom from the audience side, see the plan drawing above.
Visual Description: Two photos on top of each other, of the same framing. They show a projection of the exterior city space and the interior space with the ladder leaning upside down next to the column. In the upper photo the fabric screen is in motion, showing how malleable the city can be.
The projected images in the camera are all upside down, shown above is the same image first as the audience will see it and then turn 180 degrees. The images are from a midday musical sound check session.
Image from a dance installation. Two dancers performed together, Patricia Nicholson & Miriam Parker, accompanied by musician Brandon Lopez. The dancers use both the audience and performance side of the camera, at times dancing in separate spaces only brought together by the projection, as shown in the above photo.
More images from the dance installation, one dancers is ‘catching’ the image of the other dancer from the projection ‘in mid-air’ using a portable screen.
Audience engaging with the different light projections.
Closing event, with musical performance from Nikhil Shah, the electronic music instruments was place infront of the lenses so their projections would mix with the view of the performance and the city behind it.
The informal darkroom that I set up. Here I would develop the silver gelatins that were exposed in the camera obscura.
Unique Silver Gelatin, 11x14 [inches], exposed and developed in the camera with the poem ‘dis/order’ exposed on to it. The poem was printed on acetate and taped to the photo paper. The work was exposed twice, with the poem in in two different lifted locations, thus creating the doubling of the words on the print towards the end.
Unique Silver Gelatin, 11x14 [inches], exposed and developed in the camera with the poem ‘Glacial Erratic’ exposed on to it. Prior to the exposure, the poem’s title was scratched into the surface of the paper with a needle in the darkroom.
Unique Silver Gelatin, 11x14 [inches], exposed and developed in the camera with the poem ‘Like drawing a hand or Dyslexia and how I see words as spaces’ exposed on to it. Prior to the exposure, the first part of the poem’s title was scratched into the surface of the paper with a needle in the darkroom.
Two Unique Silver Gelatin, 11x14 [inches], were exposed and developed in the camera. Prior to the exposure, the spiral poem was scratched into the surface using a needle in the darkroom. The two poems read left to right: ‘I’ve always built my own worlds from the cities I move through’ & ‘I’m not sure I will ever find it I might just wa/onder the streets for ever’
Unique Silver Gelatin, 11x14 [inches], exposed and developed in the camera. Prior to the exposure, the spiral poem was scratched into the surface using a needle in the darkroom. The poem is written out above.
Two Unique Silver Gelatin, 11x14 [inches], were exposed and developed in the camera. Prior to the exposure, the spiral poem was scratched into the surface using a needle in the darkroom. Two poems are written out above.
Unique Silver Gelatin, 11x14 [inches], exposed and developed in the camera with the poem ‘unfold’ exposed on to it. The photo paper was crumbled up and exposed in this position with the poem printed on acetate hanging straight in front of it. After the exposure the paper was flattened and developed, keeping the characteristics of the crumbled exposure, which also ‘bend’ the poem projection.
Visual Description: Multi exposed unique silver gelatin showing the exterior views reflected in mirrors. The view through the window reveal brick buildings and scaffolding, in the mirror a harmonic camera lens is visible, and on top of everything is the sun refraction.
