User:Chen Junyu/Graduation Project Seminar/ project proposal/Proposal3

Introduction

After the research for EMO(Giants and Little People)[1] I have slightly moved further with the word "Scale". Since we born in this world, the scale of the world for us is always changing, it changes with the grow and shrink of our physical body, also relies on the understanding or our emotion/feeling to the world. At a macro level, out general understanding of this world is also changing by the time, such as the conversion of public perception from Geocentrism to Heliocentrism or the changing of peoples' feeling to nature presented in the western painting history.

Through advanced technique, there is no doubt that we can obeserve the function of cells which constructs our physical body, monitor every single moment of a chemical reaction and simulate the process of a black hole having its food. On one hand the scale for measuring the world is gaining its datas, on the other hand, it doesn't bring a big difference on our perception to the world. We still live in the same model of cities or towns designed and built hundred years ago, the scale of buildings or roads didn't experience big difference in the past years. We feel safe living in the artificial world, and, we are escaping from or eating out the outside nature. Maybe only when we stand alone in a wild forest without any human life's evidence, we finally can feel the original fear or the awareness of our tininess as human being did thougsand years ago.

When we talk about "nature", a general feeling is "nature" is something outside. It is not ture. If we look into the explanation of nature in wikipedia, in the first paragraph, it says :" 'Nature' refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. It ranges in scale from the subatomic to the cosmic." As a component of the earth, human being is also a part of "Nature". The air we breath everyday, the pollen floating in the air，the small potting which generates this pollen in our bedroom, they are also components of nature. Nature is not just something " out there", it is also something "in here". But, if we trace the etymology of "nature" --the latin word "natura", or "essential qualities, innate disposition", and in ancient times, literally meant "birth", something does changed. With the highly developing science and technology, we now have the ability to change the genes of creatures, and we already have done this. The "nature" in our impression, which is the " wild" in the proper context, now is more and more difficult to survive, or, can only survive by the power of civilization -- at that time, the "wild" is also not the original "wild", it is something lokks like "the wild" and living under the proof of civilization. And the concept of "Nature", also need to be changed with this inescapable artificial power.

"Moving Painting"

Project

I have been working on prototypes these days, and figure out it is difficult for me at this moment to decide what the specific project would be. I have some ideas at this moment, but as I produce more, I think my understanding of the topic would improve time by time somehow.

• 1. By combine the elements of "human figure" and "nature" together in a large scale paper, such as using the photo I took through the microscope as reference structure, take micro human figure displace the construction of leaf or other plants.

• 2. The project would be an audiovisual installation. There is not specific decision of the image and sound. The sound could be recorded from inside of the plants (maybe) by contact phones, then amplify and synthesis to hearable sound. The image would base on the micro or and detailed construction of plants such as image taken by microscope, by using these images, creating 2d hand-drawing animation out of that. The work would be placed in a dark, half-closed room which provides enough silenced environment. The animation would be projected onto different spots with different scales, height and duration）in the room to build up the feeling of immersion. The path should be flexible for viewer going through, but there will also be a default path in the exhibition handbook.

Relation to previous practice

These are illustrations I did in the last few years. The reason to choose these drawings is, getting rid of the commercial visual style, these illustrations tell the same story -- mysteries happening in the imperceptible world.

Relation to a larger context

Hiroshi Senju <The Fall>

Hiroshi Senju focuses on drawing falls and other natural objects for years, and he created a precise way to present falls. By carefully chosing the material like the paper, pigments and tools, also the space for placing the work, the light surrounding, he builds up immersive environment successfully.

Bill Viola "Moving paintings"

Practical steps

Here are some prototypes I have made. And in next few months, I will try to combine the elements such as "abnormal human scale", "nature" to make more drawings also videos.

http://vimeo.com/111947308

http://vimeo.com/112118186

References

Oliver Grau Virtual Art -- From Illusion To Immersion

Gyorgy Kepes The Nature and Art of Motion

Max Luthi The Fairytale as Art Form and Portrait of Man'

[English Scripts]Earth, Sea, and Sky: Nature in Western Art: Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Michael Pollan "The Botany of Desire"