Author: Judie Balagot

Garments and styling by Galatee Martin. Photographed by Olga De La Iglesia. A collective project for ‘The Plastic Kingdom’.  Imagining what the ‘people’ of The Plastic Kingdom’s fashion would be. These photos are giving me lots of ideas for a styling shoot by using actual plastic as garments. And they aren’t just put together last minute, Galatee Martin actually sewed the plastic together even doing techniques like shirring adding texture to the garment. I won’t have time create something like this but I will be contacting designers/creatives that uses this unconventional material to make their garments. Collaborating with designers would be a better choice.

Located at Flagstaff, Arizona, USA.

The skyspaces are the ones that I find interesting. The hole in the ceiling focuses on the sky and it distracts you from everything else like your surrounding and your own thoughts. The hole frames the sky making it look like a photographic image.

After knowing about James Turrell and his skyspaces, I found myself longing to go there myself and immerse myself in the space. There is one in Cornwall, England but it is way too far to get to. I instead took a couple of minutes of my time to observe the sky from where I can appreciate the sky quietly. I tried to focus on it and try not to be distracted from my surroundings. It felt relaxing to watch the clouds moving. I learnt to appreciate natures beauty that we barely notice in a fast spaced environment.

Tine Bech and Olafur Eliasson inspired shoot. This was a simple set up utilising with what I have available. I had LED lights that can be changed into different colours and control the brightness, allowing me to experiment widely with colours. I also had vape to create the fog in the images.

The images turned out futuristic and dream-like. I found that the blue-green and red light does not look good when printed onto paper. It looks way over saturated compared to looking at it on a screen. It looked blotchy on photographic paper. Overall it was a successful shoot and I intend to experiment with more of this type of lighting, but on a larger scale. Maybe a studio shoot? On Location?

The Big Swim, 2012.

This was an installation by Tine Bech at a swimming pool using coloured light and fog machine for an immersive and playful experience. The lights and the use of fog reminded me of Olafur Eliasson installation at Tate Modern. They both made a sensory space to the participants. Tine Bech’s installations uses a variety of coloured lights. She creates interactive installations and light art sculptures and games, connecting people through shared experiences. She transforms environments through creative possibilities light and technology.

I’m inspired to use coloured lighting for my photography work. Experimenting with colours and the effects I’ll get from it. I plan to do a test shoot soon using LED lights to create my own set/environment.

This was an immersive space of a fog-filled tunnel. Creating an environment of what the future might be due to climate change. The fog limits our vision making it difficult too see whats ahead implying the uncertainty of our planet’s future. The fog also makes us wary of our surroundings because of the limited vision making us interact in this space. I felt scared and lost not knowing where to go. I found myself holding onto things or someone for guidance. I didn’t want to be alone in that environment.

These are another experimental work I did with lighting. Again, I only used one light source which is a lamp. Now these pictures didn’t turn out as dark as I wanted it to be like my previous shoot. There isn’t much depth to the shadows in this shoot. I had to tweak the shadows through editing these images to darken it to make it more strong and dramatic.

The light looks more diffused perhaps because the light source was not directly at her. Also the surrounding walls were white so the light was dispersed evenly onto the subject – the model – creating less shadows. Nonetheless I think the overall photos are satisfactory even if the results wasn’t what I was hoping for. This is definitely a learning obstacle for me after this shoot. For my next shoot, I have booked a studio to recreate the style of chiaroscuro using studio lights.

This was a quick set up test shoot at home using a lamp as my only light source. I wanted to recreate the chiaroscuro paintings of Caravaggio. Capturing the shadows and light created on the models face. I opted for a black and white image as it makes the shadows more dramatic and vivid. The lamp was too orange/warm on the models face. Also, I didn’t want the viewers attention to look at colours but rather really focusing on the shadows formed around the models face. By using a shallow depth of field, I focused on the models features like her eyes to make a sense of connection between the viewer and the photograph.

I think the shoot turned out really well and I can see myself inputing this type lighting through this creative research and my final major project. I personally like just using natural lighting but I’ve grown to like studio lighting as you have more control over how much light you want. This shoot wasn’t in a studio but I do plan on using a studio to play around with the studio lights and positioning of the light to create different effects and shadows with it.

Left: Necklace made of nail clippings. Right: Woven hair.

Mona Hatoum seems to have an interest in using unconventional mediums such as nail clippings and strands of hair. You don’t notice it from a far until you make a closer observation of her work. It maybe weird but you start to realise the intense intricacy of her work. You start to question how she managed to connect the nail clippings through a fine thread and how she’s woven panels of hair to create a blanket size. The artist shows her dedication and resourcefulness.

The image above is an installation of suspended debris that were once part of a building. It seems as though the artist has structured the remains symmetrically like how they were once a building. This gives the artwork a sentimental value. Expressing an appreciation of its history.

The objects appear to be completely burned and that the artist reconstructed their original form with what remains. Objects that are burned to this degree are naturally destroyed to pieces; beyond recognition from what they once were. It is interesting how the artist used wire to reconstruct the remains of the burned objects. As I keep looking, the layout and the scene it represents seem important. It tells us a story. It immediately tells you that this is/was a child/children’s playroom. Judging from this piece and most of Hatoums’ work, the artist seems to be a sympathetic and a sentimental person. I’d imagine that the artist is expressing a profound loss of memory from childhood whether it be good or bad. The scenery and the formed objects used in this work depicts a significant time and place as the toys depict an older era where most were made of natural materials e.g. wood.

 

Chen Wei

Melancholy. Loneliness. Depression. Disconnect. Society.

It looks like the images are set in a club scene. There’s a lot of people but everyone seems separated within a crowd. There is a feeling of disconnect from each other or society as if each person are in their own world. Lost in their own thoughts. How clubs naturally connect people, however this image shows a complete opposite effect. Oblivious to each other. Its the loneliest scene even though its a room full of people. Juxtaposes a lively club scene.

Harley Weir & George Rouy

Before entering this exhibition room, you go through a vault door and inside you immediately see the red interior from floor to ceiling. The vault door suggests a private room like it’s restricted only for authorised people – like the artists themselves, Harley Weir and George Rouy. It made me hesitant to enter and intimidated because the colour blood red felt uncomfortable for me. However it was inviting at the same time as I was curious to know what lies inside the red room. There was an immediate feeling of eeriness as if I was entering into the artists dark mind.

Inside there were a series of psychedelic photograms. It seems like the images are intimate as both artist experimented with people in these photograms as well as objects and liquids. You can clearly see the forms of the bodies in the image and can be freely interpreted through ones perspective. Personally, I find it to be quite sexual – the red velvet interior and the seemingly conjoined bodies. Some may see stiletto heels or a dildo. Others may see flowers and knives. Each photogram seem like a painting.

The Great Animal Orchestra by Bernie Krause

This exhibition was set like a cinema showing a visual representation of the recorded audio of different environments. The images show the labels of which animals are in a certain range of frequencies. For example, the higher frequencies would be where the birds are as they vocalise high pitch sound. While the lower frequencies would mostly show the environments ambience like the waves crashing as well as certain animals with lower pitch like a jaguars roar.

It was a 7 part series of sounds. The most tragic clips were the ‘Before and After’ sounds and how the initial recordings had evidence of an abundance of life but over the years there’s a drastic change. There is less animals heard and it just sounds empty compared to the initial recordings. This is due to climate change, deforestation and poachers. Showing a dramatic decline of each habitats.

The experience has proven how the human race continue to advance with the cost of damaging not only the habitats of all animals but also the planet.