I visited the Dallas Aquarium today (which has all sorts of animals) but was particularly blown away by the Shark Tank. Full set of photos here. The reflective properties of the glass tube created many interesting reflections, distortions and super impositions. Also, the archway and pastel colors reminded me of many Renaissance paintings.
Add comment August 8th, 2009
I just posted a series of photos: Glass and Light. In a way, it is about photography. But, it started with simply getting a cup of water at a certain time of day, and the whole counter just lit up! It has been too hot to shoot outside recently, so I was happy with this modest documentation.
1 comment August 7th, 2009
I got a new camera today, because I want to get serious about taking pictures again. I don’t have time for a studio practice these days, but I can handle a little photography to keep the flame alive. The photo above was one of my first test-pics … and I was shocked to see it’s resemblance to an old drawing.
The likeness came before seeing the thing … crazy.
2 comments August 4th, 2009
Above are two images from Emily Singer’s article in MIT Technology Review (a better link here). They represent an innovative new way of mapping diffusion patterns within the brain. The interconnectedness is not only beautiful, but the method of discovering these patters is really clever:
“Neural fibers in the brain are too tiny to image directly, so scientists map them by measuring the diffusion of water molecules along their length. The scientists first break the MRI image into “voxels,” or three-dimensional pixels, and calculate the speed at which water is moving through each voxel in every direction. The researchers can infer the most likely path of the various nerve fibers (red and blue lines) passing through that spot. The result is a detailed diagram like that of the brain stem”
There is something about Mapping patters (particularly something as mysterious as the brain) that directly relates to my interest in drawing. The key is to find something outside of myself that I can follow, that will lead me places I could not anticipate. I have been trapped by my own habits lately, and this article has me itching to draw.
5 comments November 28th, 2008
I had an interesting conversation with my friend Ryan about the difficulty of getting a studio practice rolling again after taking a long time off (years). Part of the problem is that new decisions are often be driven by convenience, which ends up being evident in the work. So, the thought of picking inconvenient things to try seemed appealing to me.
This reminded me of how easily we can give assignments to students, but how hard it is to give them to ourselves. I miss being given arbitrary assignments, but for some reason don’t give them to myself. So I thought I would share a list of the first assignments that popped into my head:
Week 1) Start with a pile of some material (wood, wire, cardboard, buckets, etc…), break down the original material and make some sort of configuration (must fill a small room).
Week 2) With any material, create 20 surfaces, pull images out of each one that relate to the surface.
Week 3) With any material, make 3 works every day from observation, outside … miles away from home.
Perhaps the assignments themselves are revealing, but the real “wow” moment would come while looking back on all the completed work to see if any patterns/interests/questions emerged. The work itself might not be good, but anyone could rediscover some interests using this method.
I would be curious to hear what kinds of assignments other people think of. Please share!
1 comment September 4th, 2008
