My first exploration in creating a shadow study panel was relatively unsuccessful.  I created a hyperbolic shape out of fishing line, anticipating that the translucent quality of the fishing line would have some interesting visual qualities to it.  It rendered more or less opaque, and the hyperbola I created was too shallow to really be noticeable.  But in thinking of how to secure the fishing line to the frame, I inadvertently created some more interesting shadows.  Each strand of fishing line is held in tension between two posts.  After tensioning all of the lines, I slowly began to appreciate the connections more and more.  The frayed edges became much more dramatic than the original hyperbolic shape I had intended.

I’m also very interested in the caustics produced when light passes through water.  For this exploration I have been using zip-lock bags filled with water to create the desired effect.  The position of the bag drastically changes the effect produced, so the direction the bags are oriented in in the final panel will be important to consider.  It would be interesting to explore the caustics created by other liquids of different colors and chemical make-up.

The three pictures are of a plastic bag, a small drinking glass, and square cookie jar respectively.  All images were created from found objects around my apartment, and the light source that was used was an old Sony projector that emits a default blue light.

The experience was unique.  My process started out by shining light through paper with cut geometric holes, then the use of textile meshes, and finally found glass.  The “found glass” proved to be the most interesting because while the glass looks smooth and flawless in everyday conditions, a light source reveals the opposite.  The light source revealed that the glass’s imperfections, but it is the imperfections that created interesting patterns of light and shadow.  To me the most interesting aspect of the the investigation was the what the overlapping of the same materials created.  With each image light passed the their respective materials at least twice before hitting the wall.  The overlaps created an interesting contrast between light and dark.  I will explore this aspect, along with the “imperfection” that materials create, further.

Light and Shadow:  First class of the 2011 Spring term.  In this class we were introduced to concepts of light and shadow and ended with a short workshop of creating images.  I focused on using different openings to reflect the light at different angles.  The most interesting proved to be the  punched “x” opening that created a ring of light around the opening.

I continued these studies at home.  I was interested in the affects of color and light and began to experiment with different colored glass containers

The next series of photos used clear glass.  I was interested in transparent objects’ shadows.  I used a glass cup filled with water and eventually adding opaque objects.  The circular shape of the glass bottom created a focal point of light.  I was surprised at the outcome when I added a plastic bag behind the glass.  The clear plastic diffused the variation of the light intensity resulting in a softer shadow.

In all of these studies, the location and intensity of the light source seem to predominate the outcome of the images.  I want to further investigate the impact of different light sources on my panels.  Using the same panel to generate different shadows by altering the light source.  I also want to further investigate transparent objects creating shadows.