The topic of shadow makes me think of life, which may seem strange. But shadows can be created from still objects or moving objects/people. The objects that are moving cast a shadow that has so much more life to in then a still object. Like the picture above, the shadows are of two active people, more than likely their perception of the past and it creates the element of motion. Shadow is an interesting subject because it can be manipulated and converted into organic shapes that are hard to depict what the original object actually is. There are many different directions that the concept of shadow can be taken into. Shadows of fast paced live objects are always visually appealing because it allows the viewer to nearly have to guess what the actual object is, same could also go with an extremely slow paced object.
Manipulating shadow is the area that I'm quite interested in. Changing something that should be so familiar, into something that is the complete opposite. Creating the look of life into an object that is ultimately lifeless if another aspect of shadow that is visually interesting. The viewer is left having to really think about the project and can be visually beautiful, along with captivating. There are many different directions that the project of shadows can be taken, so it's quite important that there is a strong focus on the visuals, as well as audio if necessary.
Jeffery used shadow as a tool to create his images. We cannot tell that we are looking at a shadow. A shadow is the darkness created by the blocking of a light source. Jeffery seems like he is not entirely blocking his light source, but filtering it. This is still a shadow, but not our typical shadow. Filtered light is generally created by a transparent object. Jeffery uses color so there is either a tint on the filter or on the light itself. Light in its purist form is white. We use a range shades of light bulbs in order to preserve energy. Florescent and tungsten are the most common. These have an oranger tint to them than the sun. The sun's light is actually white until it is filtered through our atmosphere. Then, it appears to be more orange. Light diffused by clouds has a bluer tone to it. These are examples of natural light filtration.
ReplyDelete"Changing something that should be so familiar, into something that is the complete opposite" This is a great point and an aspect of Jeff's project that I really was captivated with. Shadows are simple really, they are an absence of light that an object casts, but they can become organic movements and forms that are so fluid and are in an ever changing state. This is a rare quality. We are able to see the shadows made from simple, everyday things, but in ways that are not familiar, and that is something very impactful.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of manipulating shadows is a big part of Jeff's work. I have a book with an image of a bunch of scissors compiles in a way that it's shadow is a large ship. The image is called "One Cannot Cut the Sea", created by Fukuda. However I was not able to find the image in Google images. I found another form of optical illusion, which doesn't have to do with shadow, but has much to do with angles of view and manipulation. The image is called "Encore" and I posted a link to the image.
ReplyDeletehttp://spectacularlighting.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/pianist_violinist-sculpture_sm.jpg
This image becomes two different pieces all cut from one piece of wood.
I really liked that you showed the image above. Though they may be highly abstracted, shadows are supposed to resemble similar shapes to those objects they portray. It's not often you see the object (for example, the couple) doing one thing and then a clear shadow doing something completely different. It's just another thing that shows how our creative world of art has evolved.
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