Using phone-based apps Glitch Lab and Lomo to edit my photographs.

Glitching creates opportunities to explore accidental errors and subvert the apps use, to explore place and time. Imagining the scene through the portal of a parallel universe, existing very differently from a human time based perspective.

Glitch Lab is a phone based app, free for most of the facilities, easy to use, save and share. It comes with animation but I have yet to explore this module.

I discovered Lomography and the quirky story of this cheap little Russian camera’s renaissance, along with 10 rules of use, such as ‘don’t think, just shoot’ and ‘take it with you wherever you go’, sound familiar?

By switching between the apps I have altered images from my own work and photographs taken locally in Wardle, Rochdale, where I have recently moved to. This extracts elements that I can work with in 3d or reproduce in 2d to create a new narrative.

These images appealed to me for the wonderful heavy snow shades in the sky , the glitch software separated and celebrated them beautifully. An abstract sculptural element emerged. Depth and fractured lines seem to bring the image to its pixilated self, as if preparing it to move, to be seen in another time and dimension.

The blocks of ordered colour that are produced by Binary Tree are useful, breaking down a scene to its many subtle shades and presenting a challenge to replicate them in Tilt Brush VR (below) it demonstrated the vast number of shades that can pick picked with the colour picker in TB although lemon failed to replicate.

Angels on stilts in Manchester 2021 – The icy temperature and movement of the angels was captured, Troubled Waves became painterly, each can be altered and enhanced directly on the screen, abstracting and questioning the subject. Vectors seemed to reduce the image to stiches and Square Sort to icicles.

Sketches can be altered to progress ideas, texture and detail that emerge form new ideas for making off-line.

Photographs from a local walk at Green Booth Reservoir – the architecture and cold clear weather provided some interesting starting points for both apps.

Watergrove Reservoir Rochdale – abstraction could be replicated in paint.

A view from my window forms the starting point for so many different ideas.

This process raises questions about the photograph and how the phone or camera altered the scene, what I saw in the photograph that I took for granted or missed IRL, how the glitching software and Lomo app re see and replicate with and without alterations and finally what I choose to keep and take further and why.

Using both apps in a sequence of changes gives me a totally new perspective and inspection of these perspectives creates new ideas for moving forward. After reflecting on this process I am now using higher resolution images with a view to presenting them in both 2d and 3d in VR.

https://www.lomography.com/about/the-ten-golden-rules https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ilixa.glitch&hl=en_GB&gl=US

A digital response to: Vista – tales of shrinking skies and life within the city grid – Nan Collantine – Dez Rez Artist Projects.

This project was fast! There was a two-week window. I would have liked to ruminate, research and test ideas for at least a few weeks, but the limited time and exhilaration propelled us both forward.

 I found myself talking to Nancy Collantine in 285 Deansgate, an empty shop front in Manchester, part of the Great Northern Warehouse which dates back to 1899. Nancy had a 7-day residency (courtesy of GNW) and had already begun to paint in full view in the shop window, on her small canvases. I had been invited to respond digitally, which fits nicely into my practice and my obsession with comparing the online – offline, in this case, of Manchester’s architecture.

 Nancy had worked in Manchester when she was younger, walks around the city for inspiration revealed: ‘there are no more spaces.’ Covid had not halted the march of intelligent buildings, piercing the sky as they spring up from the rich soil of Manchester’s architectural history. The GNW building we were in was a time portal, inside, the walls had lost their plaster board exposing the studded bright tanking on the brick wall, revealing its age and presenting an interesting abstract composition. The red brick arch facing the busy street framed: a crane, Victorian architecture, trees and passers-by, there was so much to be inspired by.

The skeleton of the city that was, now has growths, calcified and permanent redirecting us as driver and pedestrian. This new vista had stolen the sunset, changed the acoustics and even altered the breeze for my flaneur friend.

My own wandering’s, delayed by a period of isolation due to Covid19, revealed the visceral shrinking of the historical buildings in the wake of the new builds. The looming, intelligent blue glass towers are unlimited in their ascent, they pierce the sky and bully the world the below.

I recorded the sounds of construction as it competes with sirens and conversation. I searched for negative spaces, slices of sky between the buildings from a pedestrian perspective which we discussed at length. All too often artist’s compositions are altered, abstract lines made vertical, defying the human vision for the aesthetic.

The past, present and future seem to coexist architecturally, as it does in our online-offline world. Systems, services, conversations, relationships, visits, education…. what part of our world does not have an on line cousin.

My response to Nan’s paintings and our collaboration, is a digital pop-up gallery, exploring the negative spaces, using AI software with which I made hundreds of new abstract images (examples below of some I did not use in the video).  The research became a collaboration with AI, enabling me to use my photographs, sketches and the colour pallet of Nan’s paintings to ask: what would the AI do with these spaces? I focused on one shape in particular, made up of uncomplicated lines, a sort of control for my experiments.

AI has existed since the 1940’s and Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN’s) developed since 2014. GAN’s are the type of AI systems which enable the software used by Artists today. The AI is fed with styles of artists from the 18 – 19^th Century, artistic movements, and my own images, to produce new abstract compositions.

I used Photo Mirage to animate the AI composed space (below) and recreate its looming perpetual movement. The city is constantly moving and these spaces will soon disappear.  I felt an urgency to document them, and even today can’t stop seeing and photographing negative spaces from the different perspectives I find myself in around the city.

The viewer journey’s around the virtual gallery made in VR Tilt Brush. A three-dimensional painting space in which I become constructor and curator, reclaiming the work by my selection. The use of AI removes the hand of the artist, making the negative space positive, I can regain control by selection and animation much like a co-art project with another artist or in a cross disciplinary project.

The pop-up gallery is formed of an abstract, incomplete construction of a tower, suspended in the universe by an iconic crane and lit by a far away sun.

The viewer leaps from the gallery and travels downwards in a undulating abstract representation of the tower as it pulsates to: firstly, the sounds of the city’s endless building noise and secondly, a digital sounding tune made with Pixelsynth, software that responds to images by creating music. This sound registers the iconic towers where once it would have made music from the stars.

Online Exhibition Link:

I still have a lot to learn about AI and what might be to come, my research has raised more questions than answers. The collaboration with Nancy has just started and I am looking forward to what comes next!

“Some people worry that artificial intelligence will make us feel inferior, but then, anybody in his right mind should have an inferiority complex every time he looks at a flower.” —Alan Kay

Links:

https://ojack.xyz/PIXELSYNTH/

https://www.photomirage.io/en/

https://www.playform.io/

The sizing features in TiltBrush enable both work and imported images and objects to be scaled up and down with the wands. This makes for endless possibilities, a series of cracked screens painted with light in the studio became the walls of room into which I could create or import.

When considering the abstract lines of the cracked screen and its relationship to the digital world and the fragility of the human in its interaction, I repainted parts using the dropper to match the colour and light pulling it out of its flat plane and exploring it in 3D . The limitations in colour on the palette present some interesting diversions and more questions than answers.

There are limitations, these images can’t be cut or changed only resized but I did attempt to collage by tipping and collating them which when filmed or photographed within the scene at certain angles creates a travel effect for the viewer as they move through the image.

The diamond tool has the effect of creating unexpected planes within a painted image, again the flexibility of the camera to capture these is where the fun lies. I have also discovered that the panoramic feature can be turned off, to avoid the blurring at the edges of the scene. Images generally have needed further enhancing to use in social media etc. So this something to work on further. It feels a little hypocritical to alter them too much out of tilt Brush but needs must when creating a 2d image. I hope to improve the quality to screen print in the future.

I attempted a realistic scene from a photograph of the silver birch in Salford Quays this wasn’t too difficult but very animated and game like which I am trying to avoid. It was a good experience and the fact that it would be possible for the viewer to walk through the scene with a headset is something that I will begin to work on as I get used to the software.

In conclusion it is important to have in mind if it is a film or VR scene I am creating as the perspective necessary when walking in and around a scene is very different to looking at the image or presenting it in 2d. My interest lies in the viewers perception the concept of looming and it’s effects, the micro to macro process and the further investigations that occur as a result of working in this medium.

Whilst in quarantine I have decided to look back at the artists who I think have influenced my work. I believe influence comes in strange and unexpected ways. There are the artists who’s work ‘I like’ and those whose I respect immensely. There are those whose work resonates with me and those whose practice and methodology ring true as similar to my own. I don’t prefer a painter or sculptor for their work specifically, I am drawn to process. I seem to have been influenced by an equal amount of male to female artists which I will prove or disprove as this blog continues. I will also have to decide which artists work I can recognise the influence of in my own work or process. I imagine the method of anyalysing this influence is dependent on the degree to which I investigated them and what I was drawn to at the time. Artists such as William Kentridge who’s exhibition was all encompassing and which documents his work in the form of film and books not to mention an excellent commentary that makes all of his work ‘art,’ surly would have entered my subconsious on many levels. And then there are the artists whose work I revisit to consider new work of, or look at from a different perspective. There are also Tutors and Technicians who have their own practice and guide us to consider artists that they have been influenced by. This is not going to be easy but I hope it helps me to see where there might be holes in my research as I come to the end of the term, at home, isolated, but with a new perspective. My method of research needs to be reconsidered if I am to grow as an artist, to default to the same methods with each new project cannot be conducive to growth?

This work made during my second year, was influenced by Ethiopian born American Julie Mehretu’s Politicised Landscapes. I was drawn to her method of adding layers by using a system of shapes that had an almost scientific method of coalescing on the canvas and creating an explosive moment captured in time. The depth of the work is created with staggered movements and piercing lines on which the Artist meditates in a time consuming process of making. There is meaning in each of the marks as they represent unrest and reference specific observations: smashed glass shards, communication cables and uprooted trees observed in uprisings. I liked the scale of the work some canvases are as big as the inside of a church. I am drawn to the collaborative element such as the inclusion of a Jazz musician and his interpretation. Mehretu references David Hammond, Yves Klein and graffiti gestures on New York Trains in the 80’s. Paintings by Christopher Wool, whose brushwork and work with stencils is evidenced in Mehretu’s landscapes. The artist also mentions the sculpture of Huma Bhabha whose grotesque disfigured forms are made with found objects and whose drawings hold an energy in their thick strokes and layers that again we can see manifest itself in Mehretu’s work. Some marks remind you of Picasso and reference Abstract Expressionist Philip Guston. Mehretu points out that artists are constantly using these marks. The challenge of referencing the dangerous and the ugly provides the energy for the work. I myself am considering a geographical area in Substratum (above) that I have become familiar with and indeed fond of. I am portraying different periods of time as they exist in one place. This is a much less dangerous landscape at Salford Quays.

This brief is to respond to an artist exhibiting in the exhibition, I chose Takahiro Iwasaki Out of Disorder – Clothes, Acrylic Cases, 2017

My response to Iwasaki’s work is based on his use of everyday objects to render an impression or sculpture of a scene or object affected by catastrophe such as the disaster in Hiroshima that changed its landscape for ever. Iwasaki was inspired by Otomo’s Manga comic, Akira. The comic’s Cyberpunk genre was known for its depiction of an oppressive post-apocalyptic version of Tokyo.

As a child Iwasaki used household objects to create robots and toys from materials he found discarded in his environment, he drew inspiration from artifacts housed in The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Iwasaki uses hair, towels, thread, duct tape, dust and other mundane items. This appealed to me as a truth to materials that creates an opportunity for the artwork to be more than just a representation.

The small bottle of flood water that I had collected from a recent trip to Venice was photographed with a Photogram using .5 of a second of light to leave an impression on the paper. A fraction of time can create an image reminding us that a small change in sea levels can have a devastating impact on the world and particularly the beautiful city of Venice. Water and plastic (an everyday material) created the image which I reproduced in the form of a screen print. I chose the bright dayglow orange to represent a warning and contrast with traditional renaissance style. The cathedral like image formed by the water in the bottle reminded me of the city’s priceless architecture and everything that is at stake in this moment in Venice.

Work on this print produced many different copies each with its own meaning. The repetition of the shape was reminiscent of the arches and domes of he architecture of Venice and the black/dark green acrylic created a feeling of sadness at the loss of this. The layers of luminous paint created a feeling of alert and danger. I used red over the black to emphasise this. The harder I pushed the paint through the silk screen the denser the image became. The less dense ones showed clearly the shadows and edges of the bottle.

It was interesting to try a 100 mesh screen as it seemed to collect finer detail but also created a wave of lines from the photogram that I did not anticipate. This created a different texture and feel to the print and one that I personally liked. However the bright orange of the one that I chose for the exhibition is a call to action to address the issues of rising sea levels and the loss of priceless architecture and art in Venice.

This blog will explore some of my favorite work at the biennial…..

Working with a scientist and researcher of Scleroderma and the more commonly known Reynauds Syndrome, has uncovered interesting similarities in our practice and fed my studio practice this semester. Looking closely at the magnified flow of blood to the very tip of the fingers presented some beautiful and interesting shapes. A big factor in this condition is the unseen symptoms.

I have been interested in artists working alongside and being influenced by scientists such as those at MIT and CERN who’s programs of collaboration have been established since the early 60’s.

One artist in particular who has inspired me is Annie Cattrell. Specifically I am interested in the artists work with neuroscientists mapping the brain with MRI scanners and creating beautiful resin and perspex recreations with the intention of dispelling stigma around mental health.

I began this project exploring the images in print, I mixed acrylic to develop a stone colour, some patients describe the effects of this progressive disease as ‘turning to stone’. And worked in print to explore the images.

Reversing the image digitally I was able to produce a number of screens and test different repetitions and colours.

The project produced many interesting screen prints and presented the researcher as the viewer of something normally unseen by the patient that holds the information about the condition, and its progress. The researcher was able to look at her own nail folds and that of colleagues, recognising patterns and seeing images appear, the notion of the normal and the abnormal being beautiful is fascinating.

The imaging devices flatten the image so I made paper images to try to imagine the depth between the shapes.

This began to introduce a human element which is important to the researcher in all aspects of recording and writing about the work. The sketches that I made subsequently were recognised by the researcher as human beings in pain.

I went on to reuse these images but for now I am not sure where I might go with them. There is also the consideration, as an artist of the difficult subject of pain to consider further.

I want to work towards a 3d image and tried to recreate the lines within the body by using a board,tack and wire.

This was not successful as the shape remained flat.

I don’t want to recreate the shapes, seeing them closely has revealed some interesting patterns but for the next step I will consider the biology and the information from the patient which we hope to gain as the project progresses and funding becomes available.

7 Stories is a project for a proposed piece of work for the Autism Criminal Justice Service at Salford University. It began with the brief to produce work for an interview room which houses many people who are involved in the criminal system from students to people with autism who are involved in crime. It was a difficult brief as so much of art is open to interpretation and could be too distracting or misunderstood.

After research some of which took place at Venture Arts, I was able to identify the subject of story telling as a common thread and a relatable subject to all possible users of the room.

Theories of 7 stories have existed for some time and are recognisable in culture, seen in film and books. They are: overcoming the monster, rags to riches, comedy, journey, quest and rebirth.

I decided to explore flat images firstly in sketches and then cut out of paper to test their construction as some shapes do not translate on the laser cutter and perspex is expensive to make too many mistakes.

I have chosen Persex as it may be necessary to move the work should the rooms use change in the future and it is sturdy once fixed. I considered images printed on large paper that would adhere to a panel but the cost was prohibitive. This method gives me the opportunity to mix the images and consider the timeline as one story changes into another and the effects of one story on another in life as time passes.

The laser cutter is a useful tool to explore shapes and although some of the images prove too delicate to stand up to much manipulation, I was able to test the combinations with a view to creating something that is moving towards abstraction. I feel that this is important as the viewer will make their own interpretation of the work and see their own stories within it. I hope that the process of abstraction will develop as the work progresses and certain elements contrast and compliment others. This is evident in the mirror perspex – reflection and the clear perspex that can be layered.

Deciding on the images has taken some time. Some are obvious and others have come from discussion with peers. All are open to interpretation. I will also consider the effect of layering and repetition. The shape of the final piece. The possibility of encasing more delicate images in two layer and the choice of colour as a tool to bring it all together. The use of mirrored perspex is an interesting concept as it creates an opportunity for the viewer to be a part of the story. I do have to return to the position of the work however and will of course check this with the ACJS before I proceed.

The nest step is to secure the funding to buy the perspex and other materials for the final piece. On reflection I have a long way to go before I have an image that will fit the brief. I hope that the process of making and considering the narrative will produce the work. It may be possible to simplify and reduce this to a more succinct image. I believe that the concept will be better served with an explanation. I hope that it can form a talking point that will be useful as well as an image to contemplate.

I returned to the photography studio with coloured gel sheets that affect the light. I used different mixes of colour to experiment with the effects and think about the energy of the object. Light is a form of energy and changes what we see from different directions. This is inspired by the work of Olafur Eliasson – each person can be have a very different experience yet be sharing them in the same place.

Using water with the objects and without (a void or vacuum) to explore the space and movement of light. This is very dependent on objects around in the studio which I tried to black out with fabric but did not have much control over. It is a metaphor for entropy lack of order or predictability; gradual decline into disorder.

Using the reflected light and shadow as the object but keeping the pedestals is creating new work and images that raise the question for me what is the work, the object or the light. This brings me back to the research on Eliason who supports the theory that the viewer completes the work. It is as if the camera is the viewer Understanding our relationship to the work and the space in a physical way.

The text has deteriorated into what could be seen as chaos.

 Using light in this way and seeing the work in different ways is evolving as a norm in my investigations. I would like to investigate this potential further and work on a project where the light forms a larger part of the final work.

Fine Art Student level 6 BA(Hons) University of Salford