Essay 2, 3.10.14

The installation of Anthony McCull's "Solid Light Films" further instilled my interest in light installation and interactive media with its captivating and hypnotic light forms. His use of the slow moving lines through a dark room, and the psychedelic swirling of light through the fog has a hallucinogenic quality. The small patches of light lines , moving almost undetected, in a solid black room allow the audience to feel isolated and mystified. I found these techniques refreshing, and reminiscent of something like sensory deprivation. In my experience, it is rare to see works of art that attempt to stimulate the imagination in this way. The works are almost magical, and allowed me to feel some what out of my body, or at least out of an environment that was familure. As I walked through the exhibit, I was touched to see other viewers seated in front of bright lights, simply staring back into them. With out any self awareness, the viewers were basking in the rotation of the lines, and swatting at the smoke drifting by them. It is not often that I've seen a still, calm work of art that inspires audience participation. The majority of interactive works which I have visited have involved following a set of instructions, or using some type of mass produced technology like an app, or smart phone. I was excited to watch a work inspire the audience to react, similar to the way in which children are mesmerized by water fountains, and are compelled to reach out to it. McCull, with out written suggestion, has created a work that inspired of room of people to act like curious children, helpless to resist their urge to reach out and touch it. Beyond the interactive quality, the space lends itself to mediation, hallucination, and an kind of inexplicable pleasure. As with sensory deprivation, the exhibit is free from sound, and darkens your surroundings entirely. You can not see the definition of walls, and are only free to observe the lights reflecting off the fog, or the slowly changing shapes against the wall. I am sure, if one was so sit there long enough, unfocused on the reality of where they are, one is sure to be a bit hypnotized, or experience some kind of detachment. As far as my own work, and my own aesthetic, the show most related to my practice and my previous inspirations through his implementation of light as the medium. Towards the end of my University studies, my point of view as a photographer changed completely, from more of a documentary stand point, to a more isolated practice, using artificial light in a controlled environments. The more I've worked, the more interested I've become in moving media, and light installation. My reasons for coming to Piet Zwart has been to learn more of these techniques and be able to expand my practice of image making beyond the photographic print, and into the realm of interactive light pieces that are rooted in the photographic. For example, I am hoping to produce a digital cow piece which responds to the viewer. This can be done with censors which react to movement, and respond with lasers, but after viewing McCull's works, I am interested in the possibility of experimenting with something photographic and interactive using projectors.