STRANGE ATTRACTORS
THIS BODY OF WORK CONSISTS OF 3D SCANS CREATED USING THE PHOTOGRAMMETRY TECHNIQUE. IN PHYSICS, STRANGE ATTRACTORS ARE COMPLEX PATTERNS THAT ARISE IN THE BEHAVIOR OF NONLINEAR SYSTEMS, EXHIBITING INTRICATE AND IRREGULAR BEHAVIOR.
SIMILAR TO HOW ATTRACTORS IN PHYSICS DESCRIBE THE VALUES TOWARD WHICH A SYSTEM TENDS TO EVOLVE, THE SCANNED BODIES IN THE ARTWORK REPRESENT ATTRACTORS THEMSELVES. THEY DISINTEGRATE AND TRANSFORM INTO MYTHICAL FIGURES DUE TO DISRUPTION AND MOVEMENT, CREATING A CLOUD OF POINTS, OR A POINT CLOUD. THIS TRANSFORMATION INTO MYTHICAL FIGURES IS SYMBOLIC OF THE DISRUPTIVE AND NOISY NATURE OF STRANGE ATTRACTORS.
THE ARTWORK HIGHLIGHTS THE PROPERTIES OF STRANGE ATTRACTORS, SUCH AS APERIODICITY AND SENSITIVE DEPENDENCE ON INITIAL CONDITIONS. THROUGH THIS INTEGRATION, THE ARTWORK AIMS TO EVOKE CONTEMPLATION AND REFLECTION ON THE INTERCONNECTEDNESS OF CHAOS AND ORDER, AND THE INTRICATE PATTERNS THAT EMERGE FROM NONLINEAR SYSTEMS.
"STRANGE ATTRACTORS 2022" INVITES VIEWERS TO EXPLORE THE MESMERIZING WORLD OF COMPLEX SYSTEMS, WHERE DISRUPTION AND MOVEMENT GIVE RISE TO CAPTIVATING AND UNPREDICTABLE OUTCOMES.
EXHIBITION X
THIS PROJECT EXPLORES THE POLITICS WITHIN THE FIELD OF ART AS A PLACE OF WORK, FOCUSING ON POWER STRUGGLES AND ECONOMIC INTERESTS. A VIRTUAL EXHIBITION WAS PLANNED TO EXAMINE PARALLEL REALITIES AND THE CLASH BETWEEN REALITY AND FICTION. BY PRESENTING THE EXHIBITION SOLELY ON SOCIAL MEDIA, THIS PROJECT BLURRED THE LINES BETWEEN THE VIRTUAL AND PHYSICAL WORLDS, SINCE THE EXHIBITION NEVER ACTUALLY EXISTED PHYSICALLY IN THE SPACE IT WAS CLAIMED TO OCCUPY (THE VIRTUAL EXHIBITION WAS GENERATED BASED ON A SPECIFIC, ACTUAL, GALLERY SPACE IN THE MOMA PS1). THE RESPONSE FROM VIEWERS LED TO UNEXPECTED CONSEQUENCES, SPARKING DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THE NATURE OF VIRTUAL SPACES AND THE DISTORTION OF REALITY. THE PROCESS INVOLVES COMBINING PHOTOGRAPHY AND SCANNING TECHNIQUES TO HIGHLIGHT GLITCHES AS OPPORTUNITIES TO STEP OUTSIDE OF THE CONCRITE AND GAIN NEW PERSPECTIVES.
ANTHROPOLYSIS
"ANTHROPO" = HUMAN
"LYSIS" = THE DISINTEGRATION OF A CELL
FOR MILLENNIA, HUMANITY HAS REFUSED TO ACCEPT BEING "STUCK" IN THE DIMENSIONS OF SPACE AND TIME AND HAS CONSTANTLY SOUGHT FOR WAYS TO BREAK FREE FROM THE BOUNDARIES OF PHYSICAL REALITY. IN HER WORKS, CARMI DROR REFERS TO SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS, WHICH AFFECT OUR EXPERIENCING OF TIME AND SPACE IN THE WESTERN WORLD AND THE RADICAL CHANGES BROUGHT FORTH BY THE DIGITAL ERA.
HER WORKS ARE BASED IN A PRACTICE OF MAPPING OUT THREE-DIMENSIONAL MODELS, BORROWED FROM THE WORLD OF ANIMATION AND COMPUTER-GENERATED IMAGERY. THE IMAGE BEGINS WITH A STILL-SHOT OF A HUMAN BODY. DROR MOVES AROUND A MODEL WITH HER CAMERA AND PERPETUATES IT IN DOZENS OF PICTURES, WHICH SHE THEN FEEDS INTO A SOFTWARE THAT PROCESSES THEM AS THREE-DIMENSIONAL MODELS. THE WORKS DISPLAYED IN THIS EXHIBITION COMBINE DIFFERENT WORLDS: ANALOGUE AND DIGITAL, ACTUAL AND VIRTUAL, REAL AND SIMULATED. IT IS PRECISELY THE GRAINY, PIXELATED LOOK, SO IDENTIFIED WITH THE DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT, THAT IS AT THE CORE OF THE PHOTOGRAPHED HUMAN SUBJECT, WHOSE BREATH AND CONSTANT MOVEMENT ALLOWS FOR ONLY PART OF THE INFORMATION TO BE TRANSFERRED INTO THE SOFTWARE, AND CREATE AN IMAGE THAT IS BROKEN AND DECONSTRUCTED.
THE IMAGE THAT SEEM FOREIGN ON ONE HAND AND FAMILIAR ON THE OTHER, ACTIVATES THE VIEWER’S IMAGINATION AND TAKES HIM ON A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME. THE NAKED BODY REFERENCES TO CLASSIC WORKS OF ART IN PAINTING AND SCULPTURE, WHILE ITS DECONSTRUCTED ALLUDES TO AVANT-GARDE SCHOOLS LIKE CUBISM AND FUTURISM WHOSE GOAL WAS TO REPRESENT THE ESSENCE OF THEIR ERA AND THE REVOLUTIONS THAT CHANGED MEN’S LIVES BEYOND RECOGNITION. IN THIS CONTEXT, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE NOT TO WONDER ABOUT THE IMAGE’S FUTURE, AS WELL AS ABOUT OUR OWN.
-TEXT BY MAYA FRANKEL TENE-
FIRST CONTACT
THE PHOTOGRAPHY SERIES TITLED "FIRST CONTACT | OCCUPATION" DEPICTS HUMAN HANDS THAT APPEAR TO DISINTEGRATE AND SEPARATE. THIS EFFECT WAS ACHIEVED BY CAPTURING GENTLE MOVEMENTS DURING THE SCANNING PROCESS OF A 3D MODEL, CAPTURING ELEMENTS SUCH AS HEARTBEATS AND BREATHING. THE RESULTING MODELS WERE THEN PHOTOGRAPHED DIRECTLY FROM A COMPUTER SCREEN, WITH THE CAMERA FLASH HIGHLIGHTING THE DUST PARTICLES PRESENT AT THAT MOMENT.
IN CONTEMPORARY TIMES, IT IS UNDERSTOOD THAT WHEN ISOLATED HUMAN TRIBES COME INTO CONTACT WITH MODERN SOCIETY, THERE IS A MINIMAL CHANCE OF SURVIVAL DUE TO THE LACK OF IMMUNITY TO MODERN HUMAN BACTERIA. THIS KNOWLEDGE LEADS ANTHROPOLOGISTS TO APPROACH SUCH ENCOUNTERS WITH CAUTION. THE DECOMPOSED HUMAN HANDS IN THE ARTWORK BLUR THE BOUNDARIES BETWEEN THE PHYSICAL WORLD AND THE DIGITAL REALM, AS WELL AS BETWEEN HUMANITY AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.
MAPS
THROUGH THE DECONSTRUCTION OF 3D MODELS USING SOFTWARE, THIS BODY OF WORK DELVES INTO THE REALM OF 'COMPUTER ART' THAT EXPLORES THE INTERCONNECTIONS BETWEEN BODY, OBJECT, AND TIME. BY INTERPRETING A 3D MODEL AS A 2D MAP AND DISSECTING IT INTO ITS INDIVIDUAL COMPONENTS, THE WORK TRANSCENDS THE LIMITATIONS OF THE PROGRAM'S INTENDED FUNCTION. THE MODELS APPEAR TO LOSE CONTROL, RESULTING IN THE CREATION OF 'FREE' IMAGES. IN ESSENCE, THE COMPUTER ITSELF BECOMES A MEDIUM FOR GENERATING A NEW LANGUAGE, AKIN TO 'PAINTINGS'. THE MAPPING OF MODELS INTO PARTICLES AND 2D LINES YIELDS INTRICATE MAPS, FORMING A CRYPTIC LANGUAGE THAT IS COMPREHENSIBLE PRIMARILY TO THE COMPUTER.
FOR EXAMPLE, THE SERIES TITLED 'TIME MAPS' PLACES PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON THE PERCEPTION AND REPRESENTATION OF TIME IN BOTH THE PHYSICAL AND VIRTUAL REALMS. UTILIZING THE SOFTWARE, THE WORK RECONSTRUCTS 3D MODELS OF VARIOUS TYPES OF CLOCKS. UNLIKE THE 'BODY MAPS' SERIES, CERTAIN COMMANDS IN THE SOFTWARE ALLOW FOR AN INFINITE STATE OF DISMANTLING THE MODELS, GIVING RISE TO NEW DRAWINGS THAT DEVIATE FROM THE ORIGINAL FORM.
MODEL NO’ 9
IN 'MODEL NO. 9' CARMI DROR PRESENTS ONE HUMAN FIGURE - A WOMAN IN THREE STATES OF EXISTENCE AND DISINTEGRATION. DROR IS TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS OF HER MODEL FROM ALL ANGLES. THE DOCUMENTATION OF THE MODEL TAKES TIME THAT REQUIRES THE PHOTOGRAPHER AND THE PHOTOGRAPHED MODEL TO BE IN MOTION. IN THIS ACTION DROR IS CIRCLING AROUND THE MODEL AT 360 DEGREES AND THE WOMAN MODEL IS BREATHING AND MOVING IN HER PLACE AS THE PHOTOGRAPHIC ACTION EXTENDS. AFTER THE PHOTOGRAPHY SESSION, THE TENS OF PHOTOGRAPHS ARE IMPORTED INTO A COMPUTER SOFTWARE WHICH COMPOSES A THREE-DIMENSIONAL MODEL OF THE WOMAN. FROM IT, DROR ISOLATES THREE IMAGES IN 2D. THE DECOMPOSITIONS OF THE DATA IN THE IMAGES ARE CREATED BY THE MOVEMENT DURING THE PHOTOGRAPHIC ACTION. THE MISSING INFORMATION IN THE FIGURE ARE THE PARTS IN THE PORTRAIT THAT WERE IN MOTION. LATER ON, THE DISTORTED 2D IMAGES ARE PROCESSED AND TEXTURED. THE FIGURES ARE DISMANTLED / CONNECTED AS FRAGMENTS OF TIME, DETACHED FROM A LINEAR-HISTORICAL NARRATIVE. THEY FLOAT FROM THE GRAY "SPACE" WHICH IS THE BACKGROUND OF THE DIGITAL SOFTWARE. THE FIGURE IN MODEL NO. 9 CAN REFER TO THE SUMERIAN GODDESS ISHTAR - THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN WHICH WAS CONSIDERED THE GODDESS OF FERTILITY AND LOVE, AND AT THE SAME TIME, THE GODDESS OF WAR. THE AKKADIAN GODDESS ALSO KNOWN FOR CONTROLLING THE FORCES OF THE UNIVERSE AND THE CYCLES OF LIFE AND DEATH.
-TEXT BY ILANIT KONOPNY-
CHARACTERS
THIS IS A PHOTOGRAPHY SERIES THAT DOCUMENTS THE REFLECTIONS OF LIGHT ON MOVING WATER. THE REFLECTIONS CAPTURED THROUGH THE CAMERA LENS ARE SEPARATED AND CATEGORIZED AS PART OF A SYSTEM OF ASEMIC SYMBOLS OR CHARACTERS. THESE CHARACTERS ARE SOMETIMES PRESENTED INDIVIDUALLY AND SOMETIMES AS PART OF A LARGER CONSTELLATION, RESEMBLING AN ABSTRACT OR EVEN ALIEN-LIKE LANGUAGE OR SYNTAX. THE MARKS CREATED CLOSELY RESEMBLE REAL LETTERS, BUT THEY CANNOT ACTUALLY BE READ. THERE IS SOMETHING IN THEIR APPEARANCE THAT INVITES THE VIEWER TO ATTEMPT TO DECODE THIS HIDDEN SCRIPT OR THESE SYMBOLS.
THE FLOATING BLUE PROJECT
THREE VIDEO ARTWORKS EXPLORING THE HIDDEN DEPTHS OF PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGES THROUGH THE CONCEPT OF "DARK MATTER."
THREE VIDEO-ART EXHIBITS, WHICH INDIVIDUALLY AND SYMBIOTICALLY DEAL WITH THE PERCEPTION OF SPACES, DIMENSIONS, AND HOW IT CONNECTS TO THE SPECTATOR'S EXPERIENCE. THIS PRACTICE IS ABOUT REPROCESSING A SCENE, PHOTOGRAPHY DEFAMILIARIZATION, SOMETHING ELUSIVE THAT HAS NO EXISTENCE IN THE WORLD OUTSIDE OF THE CAMERA – THE TECHNOLOGY THAT ALLOWS SUPER-SIGHT.
THESE 3 WORKS WERE MADE OUT OF PHOTOGRAPHS AND A 3D SOFTWARE, WHICH BECAME A 3D MODEL, FLOATING ON THE BLACK VACUUM OF THE SOFTWARE. THE BLUE COLOR IS WHAT’S LEFT OF THE ORIGINAL PICTURE WHICH WENT THROUGH A PROCESSING APPLICATION. THE DARK AREAS OF THE ORIGINAL PICTURES ARE MARKED BY THE APPLICATION IN BLUE, SO YOU'LL KNOW WHAT NEEDS FIXING. THE BLUE MODEL SHOWN IN THE FINAL PHOTO IS MADE ONLY OF THOSE BLUE MARKINGS WHICH ARE THE BLACK PIXELS – THOSE ARE THE ‘DARK MATTER’ OF THE ORIGINAL PICTURE.
THE PROJECTORS ARCHIVE
THE PROJECTORS ARE ALLOWED TO AGE LIKE FINE WINE, WAITING FOR THE RIGHT MOMENT TO BE PRESENTED WHEN THE BURNT PIXELS HAVE ACCUMULATED SIGNIFICANTLY. THIS ONGOING PROCESS ENABLES THE PROJECTORS TO REACH A STATE OF DETERIORATION THAT ENHANCES THEIR VISUAL IMPACT, EMPHASIZING THE BEAUTY FOUND IN THEIR IMPERFECTION.
AN INTRIGUING ASPECT OF THE WORK IS THE APPEARANCE OF "HOT PIXELS," COMMON DEFECTS IN MALFUNCTIONING PROJECTORS, WHICH MANIFEST AS BRIGHT SPOTS OR GLOWING DOTS, EVOKING THE IMPERMANENCE OF TECHNOLOGY, LIKE DYING STARS. THE INTERPLAY OF LIGHT AND ABSENCE CREATES TEXTURES AND PATTERNS REMINISCENT OF STAR CONSTELLATIONS.
OFTEN DISPLAYED IN PUBLIC SPACES, THE ARTWORK INVITES VIEWERS TO INTERACT WITH THE PROJECTIONS, INFLUENCING THE PATTERNS AND MOVEMENTS OF LIGHT, CREATING A PARTICIPATORY EXPERIENCE THAT BLURS THE LINES BETWEEN OBSERVER AND OBSERVED. AS THE PROJECTORS CONTINUE TO DETERIORATE, EACH PROJECTION BECOMES A FLEETING MOMENT, HIGHLIGHTING THE FRAGILE BEAUTY WITHIN DECAY.
