Camera Obscura

This marks the first artist's work that was not only interesting to me, but also inspired me. Ethan's work was so original and appealing, experimental in a sense, but not as a genre...rather his work was true experimentation. I like how he dug into the fundamentals of film itself and was fascinated by those basics, and used them to his advantage. It reminds me of how I love 80's clothing, but I only certain kinds. Yes, nothing is as good as the original, as they say, but the original doesn't fit this new world we live in without a small twist of some sort. Just like we wear 80's clothing with a twist of new century style, Ethan used the old thought processes of ancient cameras and went back to the very basics of what film is- light sculpture- and gave it a modern twist. I loved his work, completely and totally. Shocker!

First of all I really enjoyed the installation aspect of his work. I like being immersed in the work, feeling part of it and almost as if I am partially in control of it...much like the sphere film we saw in 102 last year. We were able to manipulate the experience each time, with new groups of people. It encouraged us to be just as creative as the artist. This time, for this work, we joked around in front of the lens, so the others inside could laugh and watch our antics from inside. We were able to manipulate the art. It was also different every time we interacted with it.

Second, I really enjoyed his time lapsed photography. That work in itself was a whole new art form for itself. It was a film made of photography shots. You could almost call it film animation. Yet, it was documentary, catching the people as they reacted with the work. It was almost a study of frames, much like Robert Breer. You could better understand the whole film if you could experience the frames separately. To me this is a whole new medium, and I could see him making real use of this idea. For once, as I said before, I was inspired. I might even try to do this myself! Here are the ideas I got from the session:

1) Screensavers, to make money
2) Framed screens (I've seen them before) showing recorded video from his time lapsed photography-it's like a live photo- it will engage you over and over every time you see it
3) Installation museum works, recording the camera obscuras and projecting them into a space, so you feel surrounded by the picture and it will not get obscured with bad weather-also easier to show without all the setup work
4) Projecting into spaces with white objects in it, sculptures almost...like you could put several oddly shaped squares in the space and project the camera obscuras that were recorded from all different angles, coating the odd forms
5) Sound could be added to the framed works, to help people sleep or to set a mood for a nice dinner at good restaurants
6) Make time lapsed photography that correlates in theme... maybe even stage objects to come by the lens or people, etc, so that the space reflects and matches what the light sees in the space...them take a photo or a time lapse series and that way it works together instead of being always random
7) Make recorded time lapsed photography sessions of a space several days in a row or longer, then put it all in a gallery space as several recordings, using the dual projector idea, showing the different times side by side so you can compare the differences
8) Another gallery idea, take time lapsed photography of the camera obscuras and put them along the walls and let people walk around the space, experiencing each one separately or being able to walk tot he center and look around at all of them, completely surrounded- some could be live as well...you could have some on the ceiling and floors also, to be completely engaged
9) Make the time lapse photo series and project them one over the other with the dual projection system, with camera obscuras from the same place or closely related places, or completely random places, like a racetrack with galloping horses superimposed over an ocean scene or sky scene, so they look almost like they are galloping in the clouds or in the ocean
10) Have live performers outside as they engage with the viewers inside...make them interact in the space almost like theatre, only in a whole new way...almost like a moving photograph. Could also be done as a theme, the camera obscura happening inside the theatre as the actors act outside. The viewers could watch from the theatre inside but they are not watching the stage, instead the camera obscura outside where everything is ether scripted or improv. Would make a great theme for time lapsed photography.

Awesome stuff awesome! This is true experimental cinema- opening people's eyes to new ways of doing things by true experimentation. Good stuff.