Proposing to display my work in the Vertical Gallery for the degree show felt very important. This would be a fundamental spot in an exhibition that is going to have a lot of work. Trying to stand out and show my work to its highest standard would definitely be helped by being in the vertical gallery space. After our interim show, I felt the the projections had started to work really well. But on the other side there was a lot of potential for this work to go wrong. Things could get very easily knocked or disturbed especially over the 12 days that the degree show was going to run.
I felt that showing this work flat on a wall left to much exposed. The audience could tell where the light was being cast from, equipment was vulnerable to be moved and I couldn't be there everyday to correct this. I felt that all of these variable elements needed to be concealed. To move them out of sight of the audience couldn't disturb the image in anyway. This is why I elected to create a cubed room, with four screens that could show four rear projections. Inside the room would be the projectors, away from sight as well away from audiences waking through the space. I also felt that removing the projectors from sight would emphasise a mystery around these images. With out being able to tell how the image was being cast could dramatically change the impact of the image. With four screens showing these strange illuminated images I felt that the notion of a digital painting would be enforced.
The cube itself would become this impenetrable object, you would be able to move around the cube but never get close to what was on the inside. This added dimension could shift the work away from traditional expectations of flat images on flat walls, here we are confronted with an impenetrable surfaces much like the internet itself.
Using projectors would also allow me to match the sizes and ratios of each of the original paintings with the screens that I was displaying on. Although this was my intention for the interim show as well, I found that filling the space and the projectors that I had been using didn't really make it possible. Recreating these images at their original sizes is another effort to re-enforce this idea of the digital painting. Its not fundamental for viewing the work but I feel that it adds to my efforts in being as accurate as possible in matching the sourced images with the objects in the paintings.
To create this installation there are still a lot of hurdles and factors to consider. Firstly using projectors will mean that is the location for this is to bright then the images will appear a lot duller than they should. Exhibiting work in the June when the sun is at its brightest and in a space that has huge glass panelled windows isn't ideal. There are two space where this light can be reduced to a minimum. These are on the second and third floor. I have seen people use projectors for this space previously to varying effectiveness. Also the projectors available to me through the AV store may be problematic. They currently only own 1 short throw projector. With these projectors being housed in a cube the distance that the projectors can be from the screens will be limited and may only cast a small image, with distance of the image they are also at more risk of appearing dull. To counter act this I have looked at hiring 3 more short throw projects. This will also allow the projector to be mounted close to the floor looking up at the screen. This is important as if the projector was any where else, then as we look straight into the image we could be treated to a bright light directly into the eye. By placing the projector on the floor the audience would have to come right to the screen and look directly downwards to see any hint of direct light.
There are various was to create a rear projection and at various costs. A profession rear projection screen can cost a lot of money, but at the same time a bed sheet can do the same job. There are a lot of forums online around creating professional looking projection screens your self and if my application is successful then I will use the testing period to develop some of these processes. So far I have I have plans to use a white opaque polythene, a section of pro rear proaction material and a sheet, but from my research have found that the polythene produces some amazing results and have therefore placed it on my budget.
The next issue is heat. Projectors are capable of running very high heats and this could potentially be made worse by placing these inside a cube. I still think that it would be incredibly unlucky that a fire could happen but you can never be to sure. My first solution would be to insist that this cube was constructed on the third floor space. This would mean that no one could see the top of the cube and it could be left uncovered. If this work was on a lower floor, the top could be seen from one of the levels above and reveal a little to much of the inside of the cube.
On top of this these projectors would have to be turned off over night. In order to do this I would need to give access inside the cube somehow. This could be achieved in to ways. Either create the cube in two sections so that I can be split and entered through the side. markings on the floor would have to bee added in order to realign the cube and not distort the projected image. The other would be a small hobbit door on one of the side that would allow access when needed. I have proposed both of these ideas and will let the technical team make a decision. I think that I need to present this work as being adaptable to the requirement of the gallery team but also direct enough so that it doesn't appear vague. I know how I want these images to be displayed and just need to communicate that with the relevant members of staff.
In order to run the images, they will have to be slightly projection mapped using the same techniques that were used for the link gallery show. In order to do this, once the cube and screens have been assembled I will take my laptop inside the cube and created a mapped image fixing each corner of the image to the corner of the screen. Instead of running these images from the laptop through photoshop for the whole duration they will be exported at the exact specifications and sizes of the projections and transferred to usb drive or raspberry pi where the image can be picked up from. This will hopefully automate the process and it wont be to complex to turn on all the devices every day.
Personally I feel this installation proposal has great potential. Its something different and I feel that the way that these images will be cast will really intrigue an audience. There will be a number of challenges but I now have the time to investigate and properly plan the installation of this work. Being open to changing factors will be key but now that I have this vision to base the work upon its put me in a confident place.
