Linear Perspective and a Mirror: Moscow Findings.

I have decided to expand the area of my research. That does not mean looking into more topics. I actually managed to become much more focused on the one I explore. On the contrary, it is much more about expanding the understanding of the chosen field of interest by finding new references for investigation.

This year we traveled to see one of the Baroque churches in the area. We found this very exciting place in Dubrovitsi. I found it intriguing as, as in many other cases, the picture I saw in my mirror was full of figures ascending upwards and looking at the visitors from above. However, this time the figures were not depicted, they were full scale sculptural pieces.

I started exploring this encounter and making links to my work. For that I created series of sketches, which I also decided to submit for the ArchiGraphicArts competition.

It is 1415 and Filippo Brunelleschi is conducting his experiment with linear perspective at San Giovanni. He is holding a plate with a painting of Florence Baptistery. He looks through a hole from the unpainted side of the panel onto a mirror. What he sees is the Baptistery set within architectural space.

 

The series of sketches explores a possibility of application of mirror as a tool to produce images of existing vertical space referring to Parma Cathedral and Dubrovitsi Church. The image of architectural space in Bruneleschis experiment is placed onto a flat surface, however Correggio's illusionistic space possesses a concave surface of a dome in Parma Cathedral. I find it particularly interesting that it is made to look like extension of real space if perceived from the right point of view or observed in a mirror. Still, when these are perceived from a different angle, depiction of he figures on a concave surface causes more distortion than if they were drawn onto a flat surface. The vertical space in Dubrovitsi Church has similar geometrical configuration  While the space perceived through a mirror it might look similar in configuration to Parma Cathedral, however it  is created by volume filled with sculptural figures. 

View inside Dubrovitsi Church

Dome painting by Correggio, Parma Cathedral

Expanding reading list: articles and reviews

I found JSTOR incredibly helpful for identifying literature to expand my list of works to read. I am going to share some of the recent ones, which includes both articles and reviews. Here is a list with links, grouped by author:

• Margaret Iversen 

Orthodox and Anamorphic PerspectivesReviewed Work: The Origin of Perspective by Hubert Damisch, John Goodman; Perspective as a Symbolic Form by Erwin Panofsky, Christopher S. Wood
Oxford Art Journal
Vol. 18, No. 2 (1995), pp. 81-84

The Discourse of Perspective in the Twentieth Century: Panofsky, Damisch, Lacan 

Margaret Iversen 

Oxford Art Journal 

Vol. 28, No. 2 (2005) , pp. 193-202

• Keith Broadfoot 

Perspective Yet Again: Damisch with Lacan
Oxford Art Journal
Vol. 25, No. 1 (2002), pp. 73-94

• James Elkins

Renaissance Perspectives
Journal of the History of Ideas
Vol. 53, No. 2 (Apr. - Jun., 1992), pp. 209-230

Review

Reviewed Work: The Science of Art, Optical Themes in Western Art from Brunelleschi to Seurat by Martin Kemp
Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte
54. Bd., H. 4 (1991), pp. 597-601

• Christopher S. Wood

Review

Reviewed Works: The Origin of Perspective by Hubert Damisch;Le Jugement de Pâris by Hubert Damisch
The Art Bulletin
Vol. 77, No. 4 (Dec., 1995), pp. 677-682

E.H. Gombrich's 'Art and Illusion: A Study in the Psychology of Pictorial Representation', 1960 The Burlington Magazine
Vol. 151, No. 1281 (December 2009), pp. 836-839
Published by: The Burlington Magazine Publications Ltd.

• Joel Snyder

Review

Reviewed Work: Perspective as Symbolic Form by Erwin Panofsky
The Art Bulletin
Vol. 77, No. 2 (Jun., 1995), pp. 337-340

• Allister Neher

How Perspective Could Be a Symbolic Form
The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism
Vol. 63, No. 4 (Autumn, 2005), pp. 359-373

• David Grubbs

Review

Reviewed Work: Art and Objecthood: Essays and Reviews by Michael Fried
Chicago Review
Vol. 44, No. 3/4 (1998), pp. 193-195

• Patrick Maynard

Review
Reviewed Works: The Science of Art: Optical Themes in Western Art from Brunelleschi to Seurat by Martin Kemp; Perspective as Symbolic Form by Erwin Panofsky, Christopher S. Wood
The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism
Vol. 52, No. 2 (Spring, 1994), pp. 243-245
Published by: Wiley on behalf of The American Society for Aesthetics

• Rudolf Arnheim

Review
Reviewed Work: Hubert Damisch: The Origin of Perspective by John Goodman
Review by: Rudolf Arnheim
Leonardo
Vol. 28, No. 1 (1995), p. 75
Published by: The MIT Press

• Roy R. Behrens

Review
Reviewed Work: The Domain of Images by James Elkins
Leonardo
Vol. 34, No. 1 (2001), p. 77
Published by: The MIT Press

• Alberto Pérez-Gómez 

Questions of representation: the poetic origin of architecture. 
Architectural Research Quarterly
Vol. 9, No. 3-4 (Sep., 2005) pp. 217-225
Published by: Cambridge University Press

Contraption

I have recently been doing some sketching over those sketches completed a while ago, but never considered for development. I started looking at my proposal for the series of wearable objects and the proposal of the adjustable device, and now I realise there is an opportunity to merge them. Still, through these sketches I understood that the Imaginative Wear series should employ real space imagery, while the sketches here are probably a further development of that idea of dynamic contraption from 2011, pushed and reworked in terms of construction. It will still work with body postures and would make up that series never produces after the final outcome in 2011 as one piece and could be transformed and adjusted.

Sketch of the apparatus # 2

Sketch above was completed this year, but then sketches over it and below are the most recent ones. The latter indicate how technical problems could be resolved, and, instead of creating a heavy construction of acrylic joints, this could be a light yet adjustable device. Moreover, I have been testing 3D printing recently, so I am planning to work more with dome-like shapes rather than vault-like ones.

Sketch of the apparatus # 2

UALARM Exhibition Proposal

Recently I have been coordinating a group of UAL Alumni in Russia. For the last three moths we have been working on festival here in Moscow, which is due to happen next weekend. Luckily I found a bit of time to participate in the Exhibition within it. Though I haven't managed to develop any of my sketches further (which I will be posting later), I came up with a device to screen my video from the exhibition back in 2011.

Come and see!

Different ideas

Different ideas

Development of main idea

Beholder and his Eye

Isn't this amazing?

http://www.wallpaper.com/art/meeting-the-man-who-draws-with-his-eyes/8806#116762

Work by Graham Fink:
http://www.grahamfink.com

Sculpture Development

I uploaded most of stuff last year working with projection and learning more about it practically and exploring theories behind it.  

I have recently been invited to participate in UAL Russia Alumni 'Share It!' debate centered around topic of '01. Reconstruction', where I have presented my work to audience of UAL Alumni and students of British Higher School of Art and Design as well as those from Moscow creative community. 

Presenting 

Me talking about my research interest

Showing sculptural work

When considering talk for this session, I analyzed my experience and got to thinking that in my practice I have been interested in sculpture, and it was really exciting for me to observe how architectural model making becomes more of a sculpture with a change of aim and thus method applied. I started thinking about the sculpture outcomes as more of a separate line of work rather than a step towards the installation, and prepared specific set of work done for this presentation, in which I managed to explore my approach to sculpture further. 

This sculpture from 2010 was created extruding the outline of the dome section.

Wax sculpture made extruding the section outline

Sculpture pushed further through hands on experimentation with form

These particular three have a much more complex shape than those that were simply extruded. Here I managed to simply experiment in the workshop, which I think allowed me establish expression I wanted to achieve, but the method I used was a bit vague.

Recently I started analysing my experience. I questioned my method for those sculptures I created in the beginning and started reimagining ways to create them using a different approach/ ways of combining my methods rather than imagining them as different directions in order to push this line of my work further. I realised I would like to look into a more systematic approach to shaping the form of the objects.

Negative space traced and filled

Lathe

This time I came up with tracing negative space, rather than outline of the section. Then, I decided to lathe it rather than extrude. 

Explanation of section

Again, as my interest was mainly about images, that could be obtained from models, I decided to make sections of 3D objects. 

Slices of negative space

It was exciting to listen to opinions when presentation finished. I was asked an interesting question whether the process could actually become a result in itself rather than a way to some sort of outcome. I am considering that and see ways the body of work completed as experimental stage could become actual work to present or exhibit. Having this method now I intend to experiment more with negative space as a substance for sculpture. I plan to explore this line of work further creating more experiments and then establishing connections to theory.

Sketches for a series of wearable objects

After a period of time rethinking my work, I have finally came up with a some sketches for a series of objects.

In this work I wish to question the role of framing for perception of real projective spaces. In this series of wearable devices I intend to explore phenomenon of fragmented visual experiences of space. These objects aim to exclude perspective from the perceptual framework and by that form an mage of non-mathematical nature.

Projection diagrams

Body positions

Pendant #1  

Pendant #2 

Ring #1

Ring #2

Costume #1

Costume #1

Costume #1

Costume #2