Let There be Light
AGP400
From: First year studies at Brighton University
‘Let there be light’ (part 1) was a project I started in my first semester in my first year at Brighton University making it one of my first at university but still one of my favourites. The brief stated that we must collect over two weeks, a portfolio of ambiguous perplexing abstract images taken with different types of cameras and lighting; this included, digital cameras, a mix of lenses, natural light and artificial lighting. I started by researching an artist, Bart Hess, a designer from the Netherlands. The inspiring project, Digital Artifacts, showed how you could mould melted candle wax in cold water to produce hard wax structures that have mixed textures, cracks, lines, holes and shapes. The beauty of this technique being the outcomes are never the same and never predictable.
I began by melting some candles down to liquid and pouring it into a secondary pot, after pouring freezing cold water into a bucket, I dropped the pot into the water. The wax very quickly rose to the top of the buckets water line where it gathered. After letting it cool, I was left with a tall wax structure. I repeated this three different times, producing three abstract wax variables:
Here are the structures when placed infront of an artificial light produced from a large digital screen. I used a conon camera and my iphone camera with a fish eye lense to snap pictures of the wax. I manipulated the colour of the light behind to evoke different moods. I also wiped water on the sides of the wax to make it look slimy and to make the photographs even more enigmatic.
These are the photographic outcomes of the wax structures. I then moved on to use other approches to produce additional abstract images. I used a combination of different materials and methods such as acrylic paint, bubble wrap, foil, plastic, ink, acetate and a lightbox.
The images below are other photographs taken of random objects and mirages found around my bedroom and my local city.
Final Outcomes (Contact sheet) :