final work || statement
• sound component link: https://soundcloud.com/user-905695757/sound-component-for-untitled-2016curated-experiments
Untitled (2016) Objects, Digital Images, Sound Continuing my investigation into the spectral quality of light in my first assignment, I carried out a series of experiments using holographic, reflective materials to project light onto a human figure, that is myself. I discovered that by capturing these images with photographic techniques like long exposure and deliberate off-focus, a vague image of myself is generated: my facial features blurred, drenched in rainbow-coloured light. Set against a dark background, the saturated coloured are amplified, creating an atmospheric touch that is bleak but a bit ethereal. With every photograph taken, I explored many minor factors that can alter the results: the angle of the light source, using different torches and different reflective materials. More importantly I explored the impact of my movements and expressions, from minimal to wild. Like an alternative type of light painting. my body leaves a trail of light that distorts and defaces the recognisable self. I am confronted with an alien face, that is in some instances, terrifying, stripped of human features. Conceptually, experimenting has allowed me to explore emotions possibly evoked. My intent has shifted from creating ethereal, serene photographs to obscure ones that are open to interpretation. The vibrant, garish colours in the dark are reminiscent of the atmosphere in dance clubs, a place where people can temporarily lose themselves, surrendering to the external impact of flashing lights and booming music. They are also evocative of drug-induced hallucinations that radically alters one’s sense of self, as some images are quite disturbing where my twisted, vacant expressions are suggestive of a drugged-out person. Eventually, I selected quite neutral images, where my body language is hard to decipher, that only vaguely suggest the above ideas. Contrary to the connotations of party culture, my work becomes a space for solitude and quietness. The accompanying soundtrack is composed of muffled electronic dance music and ambient soundtracks that hopefully calls forth rumination. Initially, I wanted to present my images in a prism as a response to how it magically (scientifically) separates colours within white light. Now, I see three images against one another, enclosed, there is an introspective quality about it. This form relates to how our notion of self is obscured because we present different sides of ourselves, real or hallucinatory, they bleed into each other. Therefore, experimentation has not only impacted on my material exploration but also urges me to consider the development in conceptual meaning.
* the six images below the photo of the prisms are what is printed on them.
