More Folding

When in think of folding creating dimension, I cannot help but think of the theoretical wormholes in space. Wormholes are basically shortcuts (or folds) through time. These folds in time add a whole new dimension to time. No longer would time be a linear thing progressing only in one direction, time would be three dimensional and would only exist. To me this would eliminate the idea of progression in time, and things moving forward. It would be evidence that everything that exists has existed forever and will exist forever in this new, undefined dimension.

This image shows how the fold in time/space creates new dimensions. The wormhole affecting dimensions.

Folding- tissue growing video

The video that you posted about the regenerative capabilities that the human body has is right down my alley. I am a biomedical engineering student so this kind of stuff is really interesting to me. What is amazing to me is that the magical powder that they use to regenerate tissues is nothing more than a natural component of everyone. You and I have "extra cellular matrix" surrounding much of our cells. This is simply connective tissue made of sugars and proteins. It is amazing to me that something so simple can lead to such profound clinical implications.

I have often wondered what the limitations of the human body are. We do not currently have a complete understanding of the power of stem cells. In theory, these cells have the capability to become any part of any tissue found in the human body.

I'm sure many of you have seen the photos of the rat with the replacement ear growing on its back:


How will we set limitations on the use of such powerful entities. The moral implications that follow this topic are overwhelming.

Single Rose Video

The blog was not accepting all of the video files at once so I've added this one of the rose individually here.

Project

As I stated previously in my posts about my project, I investigated framing mechanisms on how one can capture time. This was an attempt to further understand how things exist in time and space. The idea was to explore a way to frame a certain period of time that has elapsed in a manner that allowed the viewer to understand what has occurred over that period. I have always been fascinated with images that show change. I developed images that are composed of multiple images that were taken over the period of a couple weeks. The end product actually contain over 20 images each.

From these images I was able to construct small, time lapse videos that show the change as well.

The first one here is of a flowing blooming.




The second of is an ice cube melting into a shot glass.





The Melting Ice Cube



This is a video compiling 12 consecutive videos of the rose opening.

Project Updates

These images are of the pages that I worked on today documenting the ideas that I have about how to properly structure my project so that matching the images up in the end is as easy as possible. Some of the questions that are considered in this work are whether to use a box as a housing and how to properly light the objects.

Approaching my project in a lab setting

I have a couple ideas about how to continue with my project in a laboratory setting. I need to experiment with different lighting for the subjects as I shoot them. I also must build some sort of housing for the subjects. The housing is required so that the background is kept constant though out each picture as I will be overlaying multiple images into one final image. The focus of the final image should be the one subject(ice cube, flower) not the changing backgrounds. I was thinking of building a box out of wood and lining the box with either a white sheet or white poster board. The subject could be placed in the center of the box and the camera held at the same position on a tripod.

I could plan an test run with different backgrounds and see which one provides the most interesting way to view change over time. Should the background change, will this create a more engaging way to frame time? Or in contrast should the background be plain?

The Lab

The lab setting breeds discovery. The purpose of a lab is to safely bring together tools, equipment, and people so that they can all function in unison to ask questions and attack these questions in a thought out, purposeful method. Having an engineering background, I am inclined to say that the lab is a place where discoveries can be made about something that is not understood. My experiences in lab settings have included asking questions about how cells respond to insulin, about how certain gelatin compositions can mimic human brain tissue, about how a orthopedic implant can provide strength to an injured knee. Although these experiences involve questions related to medicine, obviously a laboratory setting is not limited to medicine or engineering. A person can step into an art studio and I think this is a lab. One has a goal in mind when creating a piece. Whether they question how people will respond to the final work, or even how their mind will flow, the thought process, that it will require to make the final work, one always has the desire to understand something when working.

Many times, when I am using a camera, I feel like an investigator. Even though my surroundings are never what I picture as being a "laboratory", I find myself conducting mini experiments to obtain the image that I have in my head. I make educated tests with lighting, surroundings, and positioning of the subject, framing, etc to create the picture that you desire. I may try a flash setting and see what happens, then change the angle of the flash, put a filter on the camera, change the approach to the subject, experiment with a deferent way to frame what I see through the lense, all of these are mini tests in which you acquire data through the resulting image. By looking at this data, my brain takes in information so that gradually I can create the exact image that I want. I guess this means that any time I am using a camera, I could potentially be in a lab. Although this is true, I must say that some of my best images require no such preemptive thought in which I think of.

An example of my laborious approach to photography is in the following images. I had a picture in mind, but initially could not find the right way to frame subject. I think I finally got what I was looking for. Can you tell what the subject is and why it looks the way it does?



As this discussion on how I have formed images in the past demonstrates, I think it absolutely necessary to view a print poam as a lab specimen. I think it is advantageous to do so. If you understand that you are working towards an end product, and are capable of stepping back with each step you make, whether it be forward or backward, and draw information from what you have done, I mean to draw conclusions about what has been understood by what you have done, you can then try again to move in the intended direction. If you have this kind of mentality and understanding of a work, you can make no mistakes and are less prone to frustration. If something does not turn out the way that you plan, do not simply trash what you have done, attempt to draw some info from it and move forward. This can be said about scientific experiments performed in scientific laboratories as well. Often times an experiment will not work as planned but you are still able to draw some conclusions from the outcomes, even though they may not lead to the exact answer in which you were searching for. These conclusions will help you get there.

Project Progress 3.11.08

This class period I spent working on the developing project that I has come to my mind. The ideas that I currently have involve photography. I want to use photography to try to frame changes that occur around me in extended periods of time in a single image that one can view. I have the idea of shooting things that change in different time frames. Some things changes appearance within seconds, some within minutes, and others take days and weeks. I would like to take consecutive photographs of things that change and merge these images to frame this change. The way I would like to show this change is to make the consecutive images transparent so that they lay on top of the original image. Hopefully taking anywhere from five to twenty images and overlapping them will create an interesting, innovative way of viewing change. In class I learned how to use Photoshop to create the certain effects that I am looking for. Here are a couple examples of how I plan to overlap the images. In this first example I merged the following two pictures. The first picture of of a silhouetted plane flying over trees as the sun sets on a spring day. The second picture was taken as I was experimenting with slow shutter speed while riding down the interstate as my roommate was driving us to Florida for spring break. Both of these pictures were taken on the same day.



Here is the image that I created by merging these two images:

This next one was created by merging a picture of a car from the Detroit autoshow with picture of tree bark. I liked the juxtaposition of this image
I plan to shoot things that change within a relatively short amount of time and superimpose the images upon one another. Some ideas that I have right now are the following: a melting ice cube, a wilting flower, blooming tree....I'm still thinking of others.

Folding and Framing

What is the role of location due to folding?

To fold into suggests entry, convergence, to fold into does not mean force...rather ease into.
To fold to the interior may mean to preserve vs exterior. Unfolding the paper shows that it now actually has an interior and exterior. There is evidence for this in the presence of creases. Some creases point inward while others preserve the location that is no longer exposed when folded. There is only so much that can be removed to try to mask this evidence, but after folding impact has been made.

The impact of Mardi Gras Beads

beads have been passed around the classroom. i see that people engage the beads in different ways. Some hold them, some actually wear them. What do people think when they physically touch these beads? Is it of what they are made of, or is it why they were made?

Shiny spheres held together by string. Circular in simplest form. When acted upon the interactions of the individual beads becomes more complicated. Overlaps begin to form but the original unbroken connection can be traced if one focuses long enough. But upon casual glance, the simplistic nature of their connectivity is easily lost. Lost in the complex forms that are taken. These complex forms arise due to external forces and they continue to exist due to external forces. Once acted upon by an individual, the beads are then left for gravity to preserve what has been created. But there is an intrinsic ability to preserve shape in the nature of the connection of the beads, for if the string was not present the spheres would roll away to exist individually. The structure of the table provides the canvas for the beads to exist together. Gravity held the connection of the two strands in between the table, while the support of the table allowed the connection to exist in the air.

Questions of framing our projects

Right now I am developing a project that will use an enlarger used in printing photos.  I plan to use three dimensional objects to project images on photopaper.  

My question about frame is as follows: do the limitations of the edges of the photopaper create a natural frame for my project or can I somehow break free from this inherent frame and the limitations that arise from it?

The nature of this project, the use of photopaper, results in a natural frame already existing: the edges of the paper.  I hope to break this inherent frame by using multiple pages connected together, possibly into 3D.

Concerning Brandon's Project:

Brandon is attempting to explore the nature of emotions and the variability that exists in the manner in which individuals express their emotions.  We discussed the fact that a natural from the exists for emotions is the human body.  Therefore, how might he frame, this natural frame to develop an expression of this variance?  Should the frame of a photographic lens be used?

It was suggested that he shoot different parts of the human body at different magnifications in an attempt to see if people can identify the emotion being displayed with minimal input.

Responses From Class 1/22/08 and 1/15/08

Some ideas that I have come up with for the project thus far:

• placing a microphone in a couple locations throughout my apartment and having it turn on a different times throughout the week and record the activity. At the end of the week create a compilation of what has occurred in that space through incorporation with music.
• varying the frame rate of a slideshow like projection to get merging images
• building filters for my camera and attempting to shot things that fit the filters. For example building a lens cover that has a word cut out of it and then shooting something that portrays this word so that you get only portions of the image that fall in the cut-out letters. This could be done with figures as well.

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Response From Class 1/15/08

Yannis Ritsos - Erotica XII
I feel that the use of the present tense in this piece allows you to visualize what is going on much easier. With the present tense you can see the actions that are tacking place as they are happening. With the past tense you don't have such an opportunity, it is much more natural to hear and feel what is actually going on in the following section of the poem:

A hoop from a barrel of olden times rolls down the hill,
falls into the stream, tossing off drops that wet your feet,
and also wet your chin. Stop that I may wipe you.

The use of present tense puts you right in the action, right where it is taking place. You can see the hoop rolling and throwing drops of water; you can feel them on your feet.

Ernst Jandi - Preliminary Studies for the Frankfurt Readings 1984
The following are a couple links that show videos that explore the mouth as a servant. These are extreme cases in which people have harnessed the control of the mouth to a level many are not capable of.

This guy can speak the words in sentences completely backwards:



The fastest speaking person in the world (go to minute 1:00 of the video):



The fastest drinker:



Octavio Paz - Blanco

I think that the structure of this passage allows for some personal interpretation on how it should be read. This is especially present in the sections of the piece that are composed of two components side-by-side, each containing different fonts. One of them is bold, the other is italicized. Should you read the bold component first, then read the italicized component, or should you read one line of the bold, then the corresponding line in the italicized. I read the passage once each way. Even though on first glance it may seam unnatural to read one bold line followed by one italicized line (because they appear to have been intentionally separated), I actually like to see the similarities and differences between each individual line. Reading directly across the page helped identify these.

1.22.08 - Thoughts on Space

This discussion on how the boundaries of an entity, whether it be something as simple as a blog, or as complicated as the universe is interesting. It is simple to write off the boundaries as uninteresting void space. The space of text is limited by the margins, but rather than viewing the margin as void, they can be viewed as an intrinsic portion of what the piece of work is. They can be utilized to give structure.

How do things exist in space?
My experience in math and engineering causes a natural reaction to refer to the three dimensional Cartesian Coordinates that I have been using for years in class. This system consists of three axes with incremental markings of distance along each side.

definition of axis: ax·is

1. A straight line about which a body or geometric object rotates or may be conceived to rotate.

2. Mathematics

a. An unlimited line, half-line, or line segment serving to orient a space or a geometric object, especially a line about which the object is symmetric.

b. A reference line from which distances or angles are measured in a coordinate system.

These axes are labeled (x,y,z) in the Cartisean system. The figure below shows this system.


Any position in space can be explicitly described by providing the three values of x, y, and z. For something to exist in space it must have these three values that define where it is. If the object occupies a volume, this volume can be defined as an accumulation of all the points within its volume.
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Response to Second Series from 3 x 11 Tristychs:

This piece is hard for me to wrap my head around. After reading the commentary after the piece I understand that this Second Series is a series of separate poems each numbered and collected as a unit. Does each numbered piece stand alone, or does Yannis Ritsos have an overall theme? How does the space between these separate poems affect how one reads this series?
From Thylias' comments on her Blog, I can assume that the original work was very different than this re-printing in the Anthology. I would imagine that the arrangement of the short poems would have been more dramatic. Did this arrangement help define a uniting theme with the poems?

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Drawing Blue Song Candidates From Super Vision


I currently do not own Super Vision. I need to re-examine the book in class one day to identify a couple candidates.

I searched for some images that are similar to those found in Super Vision, and have found some that could be applied to the blue song:

Cell nuclei of the mouse colon (740x) by Dr. Paul Appleton. Taken from Nikon's Small World competition for the best microscopic image:


"Nikon's Small World winning image emerges from blackness to reveal the delicate, blue pebbly texture of the cell nuclei of a mouse colon as seen through the microscope. This winning image is the work of Dr. Paul Appleton, a researcher from the Division of Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of Dundee in the UK." (Quote Taken from www.medgadget.com/archives/img/76575mou.jpg)

Another Image from Nikon's Small World Competition



Here's the link to the page for this competitions. It's actually really amazing stuff!

http://www.nikonsmallworld.com/