FMP Show and tell

Today the first "show and tell" with Len, Michael and myself. I mailed 17 slides to Wendy yesterday and prepared what I like to tell. (didn't read it aloud so skipped half probably)

The preparation is in this post, the slides and the text I prepared. It is so good to do this show and tell. It shows me where I am, what I have done and where to go. Also the progression I made and gives direction. Think on the story especially how to tell it and use the research I did last couple of weeks on the subject. I also investigated other participants but don't have the idea that one gave more inspiration than the other.

It was very inspiring to see Michaels and Lens work. It is also very different from mine; luckily. I hate it when I go to final project exhibitions to see much of the same kind of photography projects often clones of the tutors.

Michael was talking about the abstract; it is using your mind and not seeing with the eyes.

Len was talking about what one can show by not showing it in the image/frame.

For the CRoP (tip from Wendy) we have to tell: I come this far and this is what I will do next; with other words live doesn't stop after the masters but goes on as will the project. I have to make decisions in the near feature.

My project is published on Dodho and has more than 1800 views already

Started this project with a book about clouds to get inspiration

Clouds are unpredictable and hard to make place into models for scientists.

Research artist who have clouds as a subject

experimenting with tape and cyanotypes (paper)

Tests with film on Japanese washi paper film and gampi paper film

Macro images; details of what I imagine clouds could look like

Fun with a smoke machine

Morph one cloud into another the goal was lenticular prints

Morph stages were more special as the lenticulars

Still trying to add the 3D based images that I made two last two modules

Make pixels into sound and assign an instrument. The graphics are like punch plates for organs. (and inspiration)

Is it possible to hear the sound of the 3D image. A first test with a record (and inspiration)

Colors blue and white are from Delfts Blue; what if I make 3D vases from my cloud images?

a series of different vases with in the background the images used for the basis

Collaboration with Titus van Lierop who makes them printable and changes the inside to let them contain water.

The challenge: let everything come together in an exhibition. (with some items I made in the 2 earlier modules.

The prepared text.

My project is about photography; what is it and what might be hidden inside, unseen and how can I reveal that, make it visual.

The subject is clouds. I am fascinated by clouds because they have a romantic, dreamy appearance but can be very terrifying and threatening. Clouds are unassignable, indefinite, don't have a specified location, are constantly changing, and not tactile. Clouds are there most of the time, but we can't hold them in our hands which makes them kind of abstract. In the Netherlands we call them Dutch Mountains probably because of the lack of real ones. They therefore play an indisputable role in Dutch art; in that, I follow an age-old tradition.

I started with clouds 2 modules ago and I had a publication on the outcome on the Dodho magazine site with, this morning. Counted 1866 views this morning.

Climate is changing, we had a new record last week ;7 tropical days in a row. The old record of 6 was 120 years old. You could think it is an exception, but the second problem is an increasing drought and not enough rain. The ground is now too dry in many places to absorb the rain when it falls. Moreover, those showers seem to be much more extreme. In Rotterdam, where I live, we have now built water squares to collect the excess water to prevent more flooding.

Rain falls from clouds and it is those clouds that are my subject. Not that I only take pictures of clouds as I did the last 2 modules. I started this FMP by making a booklet with pictures about clouds instead of clouds. This is because it gives many more possibilities and thus freedom.

What is it with clouds and climate change?

In the climate story, clouds are the great unknown because they are difficult to predict. Scientists work with models to make predictions and it was only 6 years ago that they managed to create more or less useful models to simulate the behavior of clouds.

This resulted in much more insights on how great the influence of clouds is on the climate. But also, more questions. The influence of clouds is not necessarily right or wrong; it depends on how high or low the cloud cover is, the humidity and the time of day or night. In corona time, when no planes were flying, road traffic was halved and factories were running much less production, it was on average 3 degrees warmer in the Netherlands. By the way, corona is a gold mine for scientists because it allows them to compare predictions with real measurements. What has been established is that the clouds are moving towards the poles and that they can dissolve completely when the carbon dioxide content is too high. Earlier predictions about the warmer world also appear to be much too optimistic with the new insights on clouds.

Photography and experimentation always go hand in hand in my work. I like that the most and it suits me. That's why I'm doing all kinds of experiments and so many different things right now that it sometimes feels like my head is overflowing. Researching what other artists and photographers are doing often gives even more ideas.

I experimented with tape to interrupt the surface of the paper and see what that would yield. A few solar prints made on what appears to be cyanotype paper.

I took photos on washi paper and gampi paper-based film, medium format and 4x5. The texture of the paper is part of the image and the negatives are objects on it. I am thinking of displaying them in small light boxes. By the way, they are not clouding that I am photographing but things that remind me of clouds such as cauliflower, shaving cream, whipped cream and water. I also took macro photos because that is not possible with real clouds. A number of these photos were made from the 3d surface maps that I generated in Photoshop based on the photos and then 3D printed. I had fun with the smoke machine.

One day I had made a stop motion of the clouds. Just aimless. In premiere, however, it turned out that the time between the individual photos was too long for it to be smooth. That's why I thought of the morph effect to solve that. This turned out not to work, but it created very strange effects, which made me think it would be cool to make lenticular prints.

To be able to make a lenticular print, depending on the number of lenses you use, you need 12 to 18 different layers in Photoshop where you make rows of pixels visible each time with the help of layer masks. It worked, but actually 1 or 2 of the 12 photos were often much more beautiful and alienating than the end result. They were poetic, graphic and abstract. For landings I made several daily and published 3 on Instagram for 10 days.

at night I still run my computer regularly on the 3d generated photos you already know of me. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult to take pictures of the same quality; more and more results are falling off.

I am very curious whether sound is recorded with a photo and whether I can unlock it. Here I work together with Titus van Lierop who wrote a script for me that makes it possible to export all rows of pixels from a photo to a RAW file. That file is then converted into sound and once again converted to a midi file.

This allows me to assign a musical instrument to the file. The result is a kind of minimalist music. At the moment 2 photos have been converted to sound and 4 have their own music instrument. I am experimenting with speed. The program I am using shows the sound in blocks just like it is used in organs. The scarf in this picture is woven in a project where the two crafts of weaver and organ music maker are brought together for a museum. It brings me back to all kinds of ideas.

Another project I am working on together with Titus van Lierop is to see if we can print a 3D surface map with a groove in it in the form of an LP (vinyl record) in order to play the photo in that way. The prototype is just ready to be able to make test prints. We also conduct research into other artists who use sound in their work. For example, we found out that there are people who are investigating whether archeological finds have also included sound from time. That study is called archaeoacoustics. If the LP doesn't work, we can always make a cylinder that we play on a phonograph.

Because of a one-two-one with Wendy last week where we were discussing how to exhibit all this, I came up with the idea to design typical Dutch Delft blue vases based on generated from clouds and the morph photos.

Because of a one-two-one with Wendy last week where we were discussing how to exhibit all of this, I came up with the idea of ​​making typical Dutch Delft blue vases based on clouds generated and the morph photos a new experiment. Titus helped me prepare them for print and the insides have been adjusted so that water also stays in them. In miniature, 4 are printed. It is possible to print ceramic 3D; wouldn't that be cool? At the end of this week I have a tour of a factory where they have been making Delft blue pottery since 1653.

The aim of the project is to research if there is more to the images than the eye meets and at the same time focusing attention on the clouds. That way contributing to the conversation on climate change.

I think that next month I really should start thinking about how I am going to bring all this together in an exhibition. That will be a challenge. The topographic cloud maps, 3D surface maps, and the photos from before the FMP and the sound, vases, negatives and photos that I have now made. Hopefully it will be possible to get everything printed, because that will also entail financial challenges.