camilleames

Here is my final project.

As you can see it turned out quite differently from the original painting. I actually ended up painting over the entire thing. I was considering starting a new canvass but I felt like the entire thought process needed to be there. I took the same tones from the original painting, but deepened the green and purples so there would be higher contrast with the other colors.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with the way it turned out.

project idea chosen: 3

I began my preparations for the painting by walking the line. I did so in a meditative state, focusing on the energies of the line. How does the line make me feel? What colors follow me on my journey? After several meditative sessions I went to the studio and mixed up a palette of recurring colors from my walks. After centering myself into the state of mind achieved during my walks I allowed the paint to fill the canvass with feeling. After 3 full days of painting this is what I achieved. I considered myself to be 75 percent done.

Unfortunatley, there was no real idea being shown through this image and I had to rethink my strategy. I needed to depict the line without creating a landscape painting. It was suggested that I revisit the idea of polarities and opposites. I was most interested in the light and atmosphere that hovers over the valley generated by the universities in contrast to clear starry skies. The image that began to form in my head followed the line with orbs of light representing electric lighting. The stars would be giant orbs, the huge full moon peeking over the horizon, exaggerating the insignificance of our lights on earth.

While painting I began to create texture hovering over the line, marking the friction of the two worlds coming together. Its also representative of our light  and other pollutions.

1. Sound Waves:

Electricity and sound are parallel when considering them as transmittable energy. My proposal is to collect sound samples from the line and project them through a compliant medium to watch the effect of energy on matter.

2. Light Points:

Build a light box that maps lights on the line through holes in the front. This would either hang on the wall or be positioned on the ceiling.

3. Feel so Electric:

Paint a picture that incites an electric feeling while representing the line and aspects of the line that are effected by electricity.

3. Polarity
Electricity is made up of positive and negative charges, polarity. This is the presence or manifestation of two opposites. There are several examples of polarity that present themselves along the line.

Natural (stars, moon, grass) vs Artificial (electric lights, concrete, buildings )
Physical Objects vs  the Intangible (sounds, smells, light, color)
Live vs Dead

Life and Death

Moving (cars, people, bikes, water) vs Static (trees, buildings, roads)
Busy (near the center of the line) vs Peaceful (along the ends)

4. Audible
Below is a list of sounds I gathered that are dependent on electricity. The sounds come from between the Alfred State housing complex and Harder hall.

Generator hum
Hair dryer drone
Car rumble
Cell phone ring
Key card beep
Car remote honk
The-light-turns-on pop!
Prattle of the television
Microwave hum
Refrigerator hum
Music from your neighbors headphones
Camera shutter sound effect

These are sounds we’ve become used to, pushing them to the background of our conscience; ambient noise. The constants of these sounds desensitize us to activity around us. When listening to the line that extends into the forest these noises were noticeably absent. Instead the crisp rustle from the trees and crunching of leaves and twigs underfoot carries sharply through the clear forest air, calling your attention.

Electric Sound