Planets and stars and black holes oh my.
Trying a few things for making close up’s of planets and suns now, lets see how it goes starting with this “unknown system 1” eh?
Cliche Verre Print - 4x5" negative exposed via fire (micro explosions) to a plate consisting of Carbon, alcohol, ink, steel, glue and film
Work, the work ….
Now I am working on just “planets” trying to get the tone and texture has proven a bit tricky with how I expose the negative to the plate. When the explosion flashes and exposes the negative the light doesn’t always go in the direction you would like or anticipate. And while it may seem that (or more wishful thinking) a flash of light would have equal exposure across the plate …. It doesn’t. Also other raised bits on the plate block and shift the light, so while I can control where the explosion goes off I can’t control the lights direction or intensity. I am however finding ways to work with the unpredictability of the materials and have had success here and there, which I will be showing over the coming days and weeks.
So what comes after the impact?
Speeding through the void to a distant world with the intent to make an impact.....
Cliche Verre Print - 4x5" negative exposed via fire (micro explosions) to a plate consisting of Carbon, alcohol, ink, cork, steel, glue and film
Just doesn’t cut it……
Well they can't all be winners can they? One of my early attempts at creating a "planet" using the Cliche Verre technique. It does have some redeeming factors and does have a planet vibe, but I don't think it quite cuts it for me. What do you think?
Cliche Verre Print - 4x5" negative exposed via fire (micro explosions) to a plate consisting of Carbon, alcohol, ink, cork and film
Movement within a still image...
I find it interesting with allot of these that the focus moves in and out at various points. I know why it does it, but just enjoy the movement it creates in a camera-less created still image.
Cliche Verre Print - 4x5" negative exposed via fire (micro explosions) to a plate consisting of Carbon, alcohol, ink, steel, glue and film
Just another brick in the…. project.
Time and space continues ............. would you like to know more?
Cliche Verre Print - 4x5" negative exposed via fire (micro explosions) to a plate consisting of Carbon, alcohol, ink, steel, cork, glue and film
You were always on my mind….
I have created a lot of similar images to this one. Trying new ideas and techniques to get as much subtle detail within the "planet" circle. But still every time I look at any one of them my brain goes "Thats no moon ........ thats a space station!"
Cliche Verre Print - 4x5" negative exposed via fire (micro explosions) to a plate consisting of Carbon, alcohol, steel, glue, ink, and film
Key image for “Time and Space” project
Enter the destructive beat of a pulsar….
Cliche Verre Print - 4x5" negative exposed via fire (micro explosions) to a plate consisting of Carbon, alcohol, ink and film
Staring through the void….
As if looking through a spyglass into the void and discovering a distant world.
Definitely has a late 1920’s Fritz Lang film vibe.
Cliche Verre Print - 4x5" negative exposed via fire (micro explosions) to a plate consisting of Carbon, steel, alcohol, ink and film
Inner light….
Cliche Verre Print - 4x5" negative exposed via fire (micro explosions) to a plate consisting of Carbon, cork, alcohol and ink and film
The fragile world …..
This is why we can't have nice things, state of the world ......
Cliche Verre Print - 4x5" negative exposed via fire (micro explosions) to a plate consisting of Carbon, cork, alcohol and ink and film
The Broken……
The dark side of a broken moon…….
Cliche Verre - 4x5" negative exposed via fire (micro explosions) to a plate consisting of Carbon, cork, alcohol, steel and ink
Let the good times roll
Now, some new images get things swinging again especially when things have started to get a bit slow, repetitive or just plain boring. Starting to try and create planets was a challenge but had an exciting discovery. I managed to get the actual planet form and texture I was trying for which trust me was far more difficult than it sounds. Especially since for these I started using micro explosions again to expose the film under the plate. Which even when using a controlled point of “detonation” was still far from reliable as to what level/field of exposure you would achieve.
Only down side is I am not convinced with the edges around the “planet” yet. In one sense it is almost like you are looking through a lens and in another I am back to my “shit it looks like a petri dish again”. I think I will stick with the looking through a lens thought though, it suites the concept and visual idea, and I really love all the textures and depth in these Images.
Who is eclipsing who?
This one has allot of shifting perspective to me, is it coming from the right or the left? Should it be flipped so it is going up or down? Or is it maybe moving away or towards us?
Cliche Verre - 4x5” negative exposed to a plate consisting of ink, carbon, alcohol, cork and film
Unknown Planetoid
Unknown Planetoid - Cliche Verre - 4x5" negative exposed via fire (micro explosions) to a plate consisting of Carbon, cork, alcohol, steel and ink
What was also unknown to me until recently was that when you viewed images on my site here you couldn’t enlarge them, which rly blows if you are on your mobile, so I have now fixed that! Just click and boom you can actually see the detail I am always going on about
On to create new worlds
Now for something a bit different, I see it almost as looking through a lens, through the void to a new world.
Cliche Verre - 4x5" negative exposed via micro explosions to a plate consisting of Carbon, cork, alcohol, steel and ink
Space, Time and Relativity
Tomorrows homework, to turn this explanation into an image ……. “The theory of relativity usually encompasses two interrelated theories by Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity. Special relativity applies to all physical phenomena in the absence of gravity. General relativity explains the law of gravitation and its relation to other forces of nature.”
Seems easy enough
Cliche Verre - 4x5” negative double exposed by fire (micro explosions) to a plate consisting of carbon, ink, alcohol, earth and film
Trying to imagine something from nothing ….
I am not as much creating Images of space but more creating imagined images of what’s beyond space. However the anchor of my own understanding, research and observations show, as I am still creating images influenced by the underlying context of what I have seen and read about space.
So I think the difficult thing when trying to re-imagine something is that you are using what you know as a base. So it influences and shows through the imagined idea, any new idea that is grounded in past ideas is somewhat corrupted or restrained by it predecessors.
Now the fun part is creating my own imagined ideas of time, I am not going to use images of clocks that’s just stupid, naive and cliché. So will time just be assumed in images of space? Which then assumes distance which then itself is a measurement of time? It becomes a pretty complicated idea, especially considering time is something we take for granted every day. Or maybe I am just making too much of it and should just crack on and see what happens eh?
That’s no moon …..
There is actually a lot that comes to mind when I look at this image. In particular about how organised and certain yet absolutely chaotic and unknown space really is. You have gravity keeping everything in a nice order, round (well ya know roundish) and tidy. While at the same time you have epic supernovas, impacts galore and implosions. The absolute rawness and drama of the violence of space in this near silent vacuum is amazing. It is about the time I made this image when I really started going down the rabbit hole of space and time theory …….. it’s a really, really deep hope. It is also when I started blowing up my negatives again ……
Cliche Verre - 4x5” Negative Exposed via micro explosions to a plate consisting of Carbon, ink, alcohol, cork and film
Stars in bloom…..
I think with any type of abstract work it takes a pinch of salt and imagination to get something from you. Often I think that is why artists give titles to work especially in abstract work, as an open door to their mind on that particular piece. For the work I have been posting over the past months and the coming, the theme is space and time. Now while I may or may not use titles (certainly not stars in bloom for this one, thats too cheesy) I often use headlines or statements just to shed some light on the dark abstraction and where my mind was while creating it.
Cliche Verre - 4x5” negative exposed to a plate consisting of carbon, alcohol, ink, cork and film