BLUE HOUR
IB VISUAL ARTS EXHIBITION
CAPTURED IN 35MM
Styrofoam on Styrofoam
100cm x 75cm
This piece is dedicated to the people portrayed but also to my passion for film photography. Instead of painting/creating a piece with proper details, I experimented with styrofoam to create shadow shapes to show that light plays a huge role in film photography. Created piece by piece, it helps show the patience film photography needs as there are a limited amount of photos you can take and it needs time to develop.
Preliminary sketches & Idea Development
The compartmentalisation of memories drew me to constructing things into larger shapes rather than a detailed drawing and painting. The use of larger shapes represents the memories as a larger whole instead of the smaller details that happened during that time of the day.
The simple shapes helped me mark out which of the positions would more conveniently fit together later on. I sketched using a pencil on my sketchbook to help guide me in the creation of developing the shapes of the photos.
I then began to sketch out all the images I had decided to use using an iPad (6B Pencil brush), after completing the initial sketches showing the shadow, mid-tones and highlights, I then used the concept of chiaroscuro, helping me find the most general shadows of the sketches.
In order to truly show the idea of compartmentalisation, I created a background shape to fit all these shadow shapes inside. I started finding the general shape where I can use as a guideline to collage all the images in. The general shape was picked out by deducing the simplest image I could find, which was a section of a handshake that we shared, where we interlocking our pinky fingers, symbolising the unbroken connection we have. I sketched out the outlines and fitted them together in the general shape. This helped me visualise the ways I could integrate each subject with one another, creating a more coherent and free-flowing piece of work.
References to the breaking of Compartmentalisation & the Complexities of memories
Some of the outlines leak out of the designated general shape to show the breaking of compartmentalisation, showing the presence of some outliers. These outliers represent how our memories are not 100% accurate, but the general experience is usually there despite some of the details being hazy and unclear. They also represent the mix of emotions present in one singular memory and that everything and everyone tied to a memory and experience would evoke a different emotion despite it being one specific feeling majority of the time. For example, when hiking you could be having a lot of fun but you may also feel nervous and tired. This piece of work also revolves around the idea of compartmentalisation. Compartmentalising is a subconscious psychological defence and trauma mechanism. However,I wanted to add a more positive connotation to the word that would involve the categorising of different people and associating them with different memories and emotions.
Showing the connection between memories
In order to integrates the subjects, I placed one over another to make it more connected and tied together. I try to vary the direction of the subjects as well as the way each subject interacts with each other, The different ways that the subjects interact with each other easily helps form the general shape. The shapes overlap each other, which means it forms into an even larger shape. When using the styrofoam cutter, these pieces would be able to slide together seamlessly, giving the appearance of it being one piece.
Process of Piecing everything together
Then the process of adding in the pre-planned shadow shapes begins. I start by collaging everything together, fitting each shadow shape into their position in which I had initially planned out using the outline. The colours in the sketch was only there to help me clearly distinguish which shape belonged together, to help guide me in the process later on.
Process and Creation
I picked styrofoam as the material this piece as I wanted to use a method which would help highlight the shadow shapes that I had initially designed. I had to fix the shapes along the way in order to better accommodate the medium and method I had picked. I came to the idea of using styrofoam when I came across some architecture models on the internet. I wanted to show off the shadow shapes by using the light and shadows that can be casted upon the the installation.
Tribute to Film Photography
Unlike digital photography, where there is instant gratification this piece was created piece by piece to show the patience and mindfulness film photography needs as there are a limited amount of photos you can take and it needs time to develop.
Testing and Experimentation
Exacto Knife vs. Styrofoam Cutter
My initial plan was to create the piece using an exacto knife, but I realised that the cuts were not as smooth as I had hoped. Therefore, I changed to using a styrofoam cutter, which melts the styrofoam in order to create a clean cut.
Comparing different wires
Left (Thin wire): Smoother / Right (Thick wire): Jagged
The thin wire allows heat to travel through it faster, making it easier to melt the styrofoam in a short amount of time, hence, producing a smoother cut. A smooth cut looks cleaner, which was why I opted to use the thin wire.
Challenge: Since the heat travels faster, I needed to cut faster or else the styrofoam would melt too much.
Solution: This required some time to get used to and I had to ensure that the sketches were drawn on the styrofoam in order to limit the amount of improvisation needed.
In order to ensure that the cut outs were in the correct positions as well as allowing me to view the piece as a whole, I sketched out the shapes on a tracing paper and stuck it on another piece of styrofoam. I used blue-tack to hold the cutouts in their allocated spacing.
Challenges with Spray Paint (Originally, I wanted to spray paint the cutouts but I faced 2 challenges)
1. The spray paint gave the styrofoam an incredibly thick coat of paint causing it to lose its original shape
2. Alcohol-based spray paint melts and corrode the styrofoam
Solutions:
1. Instead of using spray paint on the cut outs, I decided to spray paint the background it does not have any distinct shapes
2. I searched for water-based spray paint and switched it with the alcohol-based paint as the alcohol was the element corroding the styrofoam
The Background
In order to create a more textured background, i experimented with different spray methods and a combination of other materials such as newspaper. The texture was unique and interesting and it was unpredictable as different patterns can be created by changing the spraying method and how the newspaper is placed.
Experiments with Alcohol-based Spray Paint + Newspaper
Experiments with Spray paint + Stencils
Other experiments on the background were attempted for the background of the piece, I tried to create a background by replicating one of the cut outs and using it as a stencil. I spray paint around it creating a blurry outline of the cutouts making an echo like effect, symbolising how as time passes some memories may no longer be as clear as it once was.
Challenge: Normal spray paint are alcohol based, it would melt the styrofoam over time.
Solution: Using a styrofoam background meant that I needed a solution to avoid the background from melting and corroding overtime. I discovered water-based spray paint, an alternative to alcohol-based spray paint. In addition, water-based spray paint does not produce fumes that causes harm to the environment and body.
Challenge: I realised that my method of combining crumpled up newspaper and paint would no longer work as water-based spray paint takes a much longer time to dry and the colours would smudge right off or complete mix together.
Solution: I still wanted to create a dynamic background but since I could no longer use the newspaper method, Hence, I came up with a different approach: Splattering paint across the already spray painted styrofoam background. By mixing white as one of the key colours in the splattered paint, it gives the cutouts a meaning of fading away. Highlighting that despite moments being a part of our core memories, details tend to fade as time passes by and we grow up.
Putting the Styrofoam cutouts onto the background
In order to correctly place the styrofoam cut out pieces onto the correct spots, I decided to measure the all sides of the tracing paper I had initially used to map out the styrofoam pieces and centered it on the background. I used a carbon-paper to mark out the correct positions, to aid me in my positioning of the pieces later on.
In order to create a more dynamic background, the areas in the middle have a higher concentration of paint splatters. It shows the message that people are the ones who help create memories.
