24 April 08

NOW SEE ALSO: link: http://nyos08mariasilmon.blogspot.com/


The installation is up & running now and only needs to be switched on in the mornings and it runs all day.


There are many configurations as to ways to show it, but this one, projecting from the purpose built box in the middle of the room works well as it is.

With a bigger budget!! I could see it being projected so as to fill the whole of each wall, and we would have surround-sound, probably at head height around the space. I thought a square room with the projections totally covering each wall would work best, and you would stand, sit or lounge on a giant bean bag!! in the centre so as to be 'immersed' in the imagery.

I have had many comments and have made some changes. I have slowed down 'Earth'. The layers were fast-moving and slow suits it better. It is possible to see more shapes & faces & beings in the mirror imagery when slowed down. And, I'm re-editing 'Air' tonight too - adding more content, but more spaciousness at the same time (I had looped this one quite a few times so the images were quite repetitive and it flows better now).

Some interesting research (on YouTube):

• Charles Sandison - Video Artist
• Moodwall
• Adobe Creations Interactive Display
• & of course Bill Viola

Today Tom Dalton came in to 'play' in the space and did a great rendition of the Four Elements - see video ..

Four Elements Video Installation

Photobucket Album

21 April 08

21 April 08

18 April 08

It has been 'fully rollin' today. Most of the tweaks have been done. I made another DVD of Earth, but containing all four soundtracks and it worked fine. I later remade it to get the audio levels more harmonious.

Not so many visitors to the museum as yesterday, but still - a few people came in for the 'experience' and made some nice comments; one lady said she was mostly drawn to the Earth vid and was fascinated to understand how I'd made it. A guy said that his mind was busy enough already, and thought Earth only made his mind busier but he felt tranquil & peaceful looking at Air.

Friends - Liz & Steve came in and sang & strummed and added some beautiful ambiance to the gallery. Great acoustics in there!

17 April 08

There has been more of a buzz happening today; all 4 screens were running and the lights were low. It seemed the darker the space the more people were intrigued to see what was going on! A couple of visitors were quietly singing in the space which was a nice addition!

The other night I remembered a relevant chant, which goes:

Earth my body
Water my blood
Air my breath
& Fire my spirit

and I thought it might be an idea to record someone singing this over & over among the projections! Today, a vocalist said he might do just that! (Be careful what you wish for - as it usually happens!!)

The children have been enjoying guessing which element is which, and they seem pleased to have discovered a new phenomenon - the elements themselves & what all that means!

The plan is to have it all in order by the weekend. I'm getting the sound sorted out today as well as positioning the projectors & the wiring.

So far there has been no sound and one of the options may be that I need to go and shop for a few jack plugs. As an alternative, tonight I have re-edited 'Earth' with 2 minutes of each elements sound tracks. So I'll try that out tomorrow. We should be fully rollin tomorrow!!

Wednesday 16 April

Sorted out the DVD burn probs! and we are 'gettin this show on the road'.

Today is a day of positioning the projectors so that we achieve the optimum size projection and getting the angles right.

Tuesday 15 April 08

Today we finished painting and getting the gallery space ready.

I had more computer stuff to do, resizing the videos to post online, etc.

Had some welcome news last night when I got home; Jeremy Buxton of BBC Radio York had left a message to say that he'd given the show a mention on Sunday morning and also, that they would be interested to show my work on 'The Big Screen', Hull, and possibly Big Screen, Leeds too. When I first found The Big Screen on the web I thought it was such a cool idea so I'd love it if my work was shown!! Jeremy had the idea to show it in a 4-way split-frame context which would suit the work perfectly as it is, in its original context, a 4-screen installation .... with the idea of creating an elemental environment!

I had some complications in that the DVD's I'd made on my laptop were not compatible with the DVD players in the gallery which was a bit of a bummer - but a challenge to be overcome! (IWouldn't it would be a great idea if there was a universal disc & player configuration one day!!)

Four Elements Video Installation, Open Season, The Gallery at Ryedale Folk Museum

FOUR ELEMENTS

Video Installation

OPEN SEASON

The Gallery at Ryedale Folk Museum

13 - 27 April 2008

The plan is to set up a 4-screen installation to show work on the four elements which I shot primarily in my neighbourhood here on the North Yorkshire Moors.

As part of the Open Season at The Gallery, I have a two-week slot in which to develop my ideas of how to show this work.

The 4 pieces as one installation naturaly pose various configurations of how it could be shown, ie: to run all four simultaneously,one at a time, etc. This is what I will be exploring and experimenting with over the next two weeks.

Today we have hung the 4 digital prints representing the elements and are readying the space before setting up the projectors.

link to Myspace videos:

AIR URL:
http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=30175149
Earth URL:
http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=30198508
FIRE URL:
http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=30177720
WATER URL:

http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=30199367

VENUE
The Gallery
Ryedale Folk Museum
Hutton le Hole
Nr Pickering
York
YO62 6UA

Open daily 10am - 4.30pm

Tel: 01751 417367

link: http://www.ryedalefolkmuseum.co.uk/

link: http://nyos08mariasilmon.blogspot.com