WHITE SPACE
Bliss, Boundary, Balance
The outcome I had produced from 'project' had interested me because how through the polka dot like holes I was able to project and create a calming and playful atmosphere and scenery. With this, I wanted to experiment with projecting and shifting the light onto a figure to heighten and suggest the psychophysical link of bliss (shown on my manifesto). I did some brief experimentations with adding space and photographing the figure. The way the light had travelled across the figure's body and its movement across the screen became my focus and inspiration for this project as it manifests my perspective of white space being an area or zone of deep dreams and thoughts.
Lee Sang Bong is a Korean fashion designer who is known to continuously merge traditional influences such as historical architecture and patterns alongside innovative techniques to form a collection that celebrates and enhances the body. For this project, I was inspired by the lightness of this particular collection that he had designed. The colours in this collection especially the white and blue was inspirational as it reminded me of lightness and fragility which can be replicated and transferred into the small white spaces projected.
http://mbfashionweek.com/designers/lie-sangbong
http://fashioninkorea.org/nyfw-back-stage-photos-lee-sangbong-2015-spring-summer-butterfly/
External media
Jee Yong Lee, Kyung Woo Han, Jeonmoon Choi and Yuke Teruya's way of reinterpreting space throughs installations and light had inspired me as references. Their way of twisting the rooms into an alternative universe was what I wanted to reflect in my piece, in addition I liked the way they projected an obscure and fantasy like space because of how they present different thoughts and perceptions just like how I want to reflect the dream like state.
Davis Ayer is an american photographer who comes from an architectural background where he was initially interested in space, shapes and abstract compositions. Davis was initially discovered by searching 'projecting art' and I was interested in how he create a magical and colourful imagery through the projection onto people and onto the surrounding. Researching Davis has showed and allowed me to consider utilising colours to suggest the desired mood or atmosphere such as blue for the sky, melancholia and many more. In addition, his body of work almost reflects an awareness and importance to colour and detail which I would like to experiment and transfer into my work.
The experiments shown below displays how I used different styles of light and patterns to play and see which one I found most suitable for my project.
The boldness and the intensity of the lights projected was nice and the compact appearance was also admirable, however as a still it looked too dense and boring. This led me to experiment with moving the shapes and also adding another layer of the paper to remove some light and add space.
The diamond shapes used exposed more light which seemed a bit more harsh however the range in scales of the diamonds seemed to have balanced this out. Unlike the dots, the uneven distribution of the diamonds(as like the 2nd experiment) seems to project the dreamlike state through white space.
The sharpness of the slits and the small amounts of light exposed looked interesting but I personally felt that it did not reflect what I wanted to create because of its flatness and shape being too narrow and acute.
For the next experiment I wanted to experiment with a model wearing colour. I instantly was not attracted to this experiment because of the way the model's clothing and figure became the centre of attention and the lights we not as focused in comparison to the previous experiments. Thus I had decided to avoid using colour in order to allow the lights to become the centre of attention.
Music
As the initial at the initial mood of this piece is very light and dream like I wanted to utilise sounds which personifies this quality. Thus I considered both modern and classical sounds such as murmers, vibrations, wind chimes and harps. I experimented with these sounds whilst playing the piece and many did not match the video's tempo and concept. Eventually I was drawn towards the wind chimes because of its delicate sound and slow tempo which I thought synced really well with the speed of the lights transitioning.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7t--zPZdic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tiye0BqxJS4
This piece was created b shifting and adding another layer of the paper with holes. I like the uneven distribution of the lights and the variation in scale also because of how it reflects the night sky and presents the idea of a dream like state. In addition, the way it transforms the darkness into a delicate atmosphere had also interested me.
From the first experimented I decided to blur out the lights to decrease its intensity in order to create a softer atmosphere. B decreasing the opacity, I liked the way different tones of colours were created and how the light's focus had decreased and the model's presence became the focus. This was because it allowed the experiment to become more uneven and different.
From the previous experiment I had played with the texture piece. By bending the paper more light had been exposed and a variation in 'waves' creating an almost three dimensional quality to the light. The smooth shapes and silhouettes creates a more calming effect whereas the previous photographs does not because of its sharp and acute appearance.
With the sketched story boards in my sketchbook, I had created these videos with different experimentations. I liked the use of a narrative such as the model walking into an empty space and entering this state of dreaming through the light. During this experiment I had discovered that the movements of the lights were too fast and the video became too repetitive. So for my actual final piece I would like to shorten the filming and move the lights at a slower pace to make the dreaming like idea more convincing and real. In addition, the model will be informed to slowly wander and look upwards into space which will flow with the speed of the lights.
For my final piece I manipulated the light projected from an overhead projector with the use of some materials with polka dot like holes which created the white space onto the model. During the editing and experimentation process different adjustments were made just as an experiment on what the piece may look like such trying out different patterns for the projection of light and music. The blueish tone had been selected in order for the lights in addition tot he background to replicate the night sky and reflect the state of dreaming of the figure as well as how white space enables this blissful moment of thoughts and dreams to occur. The model was asked to look upwards in addition to expressing expressions of happiness, nostalgia and dreaming. In order to reinforce these qualities of the video, I had researched and discovered different types of music based on dreams and lightness. Thus eventually I had decided to advance with the wind chimes tune as it complimented the video's concept without clashing with tempo and speed of the video.