Submerged, a Lightscape Installation

I have a real soft spot for projects that blend virtual environments with real architectural spaces. In fact, before I even found a place in the VFX and animation industry, I had already had the opportunity to get involved in various stage design and themed entertainment projects that required this kind of creative inquiry. I’ve also always been excited by the use of image re-projections techniques in my VFX and animation work because I find they can sometimes offer an elegant and effective solution to problems which would otherwise be difficult or expensive to tackle through more traditional approaches.

A few months ago, when a painter friend approached me for help designing a lightscape installation for the opening of her exhibit, I jumped at the opportunity. Corinne Chaix‘s exhibit is called “Submerged” and is at the PYO gallery downtown. Her work features underwater scenes, and she wanted to explore the idea of complementing their mood and reinforcing their theme by turning the gallery space itself into an underwater environment.

We visited the gallery and brainstormed on the most aesthetically interesting ways to set up the projection. I also surveyed the space which later allowed me to build an accurate digital version of the environment.

The next step was to create a digital version of the projector in this virtual environment which allowed us to visualize the way imagery projected out into the space.

Meanwhile Corinne compiled a set of stock footage clips that resonated with her and passed them on to me. I created a composite movie that blended various elements from these clips and formatted the resulting image to fit the contours of the gallery space.
The first clip conveyed a dark foreboding underwater feeling while the second captured the delicate crystal beauty of the water’s surface.

I combined the two, moving the water surface to the top of the frame in an echo of many of her paintings.

The last step was to take this composite, project it onto the walls and remap it to line up with the contours and orientation of the walls.

I used the open source VisualSFM package to extract the geometry from the photos, Maya for the 3D and Nuke for compositing.

Cement, Succulents, and The Bliss of Stacking Stuff That’s Heavy

Art, Atoms

[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]I can relate to the fundamental urge that stirred people to build Stonehenge. Also, I read somewhere that tiling has spiritual meaning in Islamic art because it allows the artist and the viewer to peer into infinity from a simple set of shapes and rules. As for me, these days, I am into designing stackable cement succulent pots. Putting things together, creating form, transforming space, exploring patterns and discovering shapes… The kind of play this website advocates is a sacred activity. No doubt in my mind…

Anyway, check out my latest project:[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

The Concept

It all starts with a unit.

And then, there were two.

Any builder worth his salt will need stacking pieces.

And so now, we start composing shapes.

Going up.

Playing with possibilities.

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The Application

Since they have holes, you can put stuff in them.

You can make many combinations with just a few pieces.

Playtime!!!
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The Buy Some

Why should I be the only one able to have fun around here? I know you can wait to get your paws on a few of these bad boys.

Well, lucky for you, a couple of local stores have agreed to spread the joy of succulent care and cool home made cement pots to our eager community and are making them available for purchase.

In Los Feliz:
http://www.pottedstore.com

On Abbott Kinney:
http://www.thejuicyleaf.com/

On the web at Etsy:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/RelentlessPlay

Act now! Supplies are limited! Since they’re a pain in the ass to make and I’ll be working super long weeks all summer at my other job, I won’t be cranking out many of these. It actually gives you the opportunity to be the only one on your block with one. Think of how envious your friends and neighbors will be when they find out there are no more left to buy!!![/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

The Making Of

I built the main pot shapes out of 1×3 oak lumber cut and glued together to make the shape.

Next, I built a box around the master shape

and made a mold out of rubber.

Here is the original shape and the mold.

All that is left to do is put the empty mold back into the box it was poured in, put some cement in and wait a couple of days…

There it is. It’s that simple…

Or is it? In fact, I learned quite a few things through the many mistakes I made along the way. First, the mold I document here actually has a major flaw in that it creates a visible seam along the main face of the pot. I ended up having to take a new approach and pour a new mold that had its seam located just around the bottom edge of the pot. Figuring out how to build the box and the process to take to get the two rubber pieces to come out the way they did involved a lot of visualizing 3 dimensional positive and negative shapes. Also, I made the box out of melamine which was yet another mistake because it has sucked up moisture and gotten warped. I think I will make a mother mold out of plaster for these at some point. Also, it can be pretty hard to get the cast out of the mold, specially the big rubber squares that end up shaping the holes. I need to find a way to make it easier, and while I’m at it, to make it so I can pour 10 pots at once rather than just one.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

Epilog

Here it is, at home.
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Hacking, Creativity, Process

Art, Electrons, Giggles, Thoughts

I had a great time today! I took apart my belt sander. It’s a basic Black and Decker model I got at Home Depot which I have been abusing for the past two years to sand and polish the cement pots I make. In the end, considering the time it took me and the fact that it only costs $50, the sensible thing would probably have been to go out and buy a new one. The thing is I am curious; I wanted to see how the pieces necessary for the tool to function all fit together into one design, I wanted to see how big the motor is, what kind of gears and pulleys it uses, and if there are any cool pieces I can use for something else or are just cool to look at. In the end, I took all its pieces apart, cleaned up all the cement and wood dust that were clogged up in there and, lo and behold, when I put it back together, it worked!

Hacking is a vital activity that subverts the opaque technological structures that exert increasing control over our lives. Extensive data collection empowers large corporate entities to profile how we fit into marketing models and allows them to decide what we should or shouldn’t have access to in order to maximize profits. Accompanying this are the prevailing consumerist attitudes which dictate that the broken item should be thrown away and a new one bought. This wasteful assumption is enabled by the orgy of cheap goods globalization provides us with. It sucks!

Opening up that belt sander represents my refusal to accept this status quo. Though I don’t particularly like the word “hacker” because it conjures up the image of a social recluse with questionable personal hygiene, impressive technical abilities, and a broken moral compass, what I associate hacking with are the creative endeavors borne from the spirit of questioning, exploring, and rearranging the prevailing attitudes and objects of our world. It attempts to figure out how something works, and whether the designers of that “thing” put it together in a way that attempts to control my behavior, and it further seeks to put that thing back together differently. The reasons for doing so can be varied: artistic, political and utilitarian, but usually a bit of all of the above.

Ultimately, I think what really compels me to open up a broken belt sander just to see what’s inside it is that it makes me happy. It allows me to experience a child like sense of discovery and excitement at understanding how something works and the happiness of integrating it into my own creative process. When I get lost in this process of disassembling and reassembling, breaking and building, cool things usually come out and it puts me in harmony with the world. It restores my sense of my own humanity. That’s why the name of this blog is relentlessplay; it’s meant to convey the urgency of keeping the spirit of play alive and well.

Relentless Play

Where Work In Progress Meets Unfinished Business

Art