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Reason

Projection Mapping Project: 3 vertical boxes each displaying a continuous narrative. 

produced by: Wesley Talbot

This piece was designed to represent both logical and abstract thought; as the figure sleeps they fade into a dreamlike world. Above them reason, as represented by a structured room and later the steady revolutions of our solar system, serenely fade in and out. The generative piece that the figure resides in is turbulent and ever-changing. Above it all, the cycles of the moon keep track of time.  Which itself has been studied, constructed, and eventually fades away.

The slow tempo creates an effect where the viewer may not notice the subtle changes that are taking place above the figure. There becomes a dialogue between these planes of existence that is in synch and also completely at odds. We see our own dichotomy on display; reason and chaos. Which do we focus on? What is more entertaining? How do we divide our attention?  

While the concept was loosely inspired by The Sleep of Reason Produces Monstersby Francisco Goya, the figure was modelled after The Death of Maratby Jacques-Louis David. My interest was in showing geometric constructs, logical form in contrast to organic abstraction. The cold, clean, black and white worlds of reason together with the soft, brightly colored and emotive realm. I chose to work on the three vertical boxes as I am familiar with the triptych presentation format; one that can be seen in the works of Francis Bacon. The figure in the pieces is slowly built up in pieces, hacked out in simple shapes, much the way Bacon built up his models in broad brush strokes. Similarly, the minimalist space that I’ve constructed around the figure was also in reference to his geometric and flat worlds.  

Reflecting on the work, the real difficulty was in my attempt to blend the computational with the painterly. I sought to use one-point perspective on a 3 dimensional object, to draw and paint without brush-strokes or pencil. While it was a challenging endeavor I learned a lot about programming; hard earned lessons that will aid further projects.  The majority of the code that I’ve used was written explicitly for this project, with the exception of some structural elements from assignments and one function I invented earlier in the semester. 

My future aim is to refine the mark making techniques. I would like to incorporate more analog made work in combination to the computational. I would like for there to be a cross over between computing into painting and vice-versa. Another goal is to incorporate more natural looking organic elements that have less structure and more random chance.