Liz West
I was fascinated to see Liz West‘s work – quite extraordinary. Undoubtedly very costly to stage, enormously time consuming and very clever. Witnessing her installations would be mightily impressive and memorable. The use of light interacting with materials appeals to me because I understand the physics behind it and am also aware of the impact that different colours can have on human behaviour – to me it is a clever scientific statement and it seems that this is also the intention of West. However, I suspect there are many who are desperately trying to find some pseudo-intellectual interpretation of the installations to impress their peers.
Liz West (2016) Our Colour Reflection
Much as I like West’s work and appreciate that a parallel can be drawn between it and my own project, the significant reason behind me wanting to follow my path is that it is my path, not someone else’s. So far as post production is concerned, it would be straightforward for me to photograph the interaction of light passing through stained glass windows as it plays on the interior of a chapel – my camera would capture it beautifully either as stills or in 4K 60fps. I have ready access to a smoke machine and a hazer which could reveal further the beams of light through a ‘misty’ interior. Such work would require a little more prep. time and once again would require a very specific level of light intensity. Sadly through, the size of most chapels is such that their interiors are never sufficiently dark for stained glass to paint wonderful daubs of coloured light on the interior – the colours are bleached out by the ambient light.
I will include an image within my Work in Progress Portfolio that gives a nod towards West’s work, depicting the interaction of light through a stained glass window that I discuss in more detail HERE.
This does lead me on to a pertinent point, for which I therefore have further thanks for the stimulation that West’s work has provided. Always mulling over in the back of my mind is how best to exhibit my work. While it is highly probable that I will opt for regular printing on art paper, I do very much like to idea of light boxes or perhaps computer/tv screens – I can vouch for the stunning quality of my work on my own Panasonic 55″ OLED television. However… I would be very interested indeed to see my work as an installation on Philips Ambilight TV, where the colour of the image is projected onto the wall behind the television. It would be fraught with technical difficulties and compromises, as I would have to crop each image to full-screen 1080HD or 4K resolution, but it could be very interesting.
© Philips Ambilight (2016)
It is even possible to retro-fit similar technology to televisions or computer screens using third-party alternatives – a technology referred to as Boblight, readily available on eBay. However, Philips has moved forward, replacing the LEDs with nine Ambilight pico-projectors that mimic the overall motion and shape of the objects on the screen – available on their AmbiLux range (which interestingly does not employ OLED technology). This is a properly exciting prospect that would allow my images to spread into the gallery space. However, the £2500 price is likely to prevent me benefitting from the AmbiLux screens!
© Philips Ambilight (2018)