colors and rotations

the resemblance of the colors in these photographs to baroque paintings is striking.
taken during sunset.

carousel

carousel making - head drilling - angel hammering















explosions are great but they are too uncontrollable for me to achieve my goal. i'm using mass produced kitsch figurines whose courtly poses have always been guides of good behavior. especially images of saints, angels, little girls and boys in prayer, etc., but also dancing couples and people in various chivalric mannerisms. the idea was to make these figurines burst and photograph the explosions. however, this is pretty much impossible since the shards and fragments are supposed to be still recognizable. i have to take a different, more mechanical approach. that's why i'm building merry-go-rounds - they have the potential to release explosive-like energy which is being controlled by attachments and defined space.






















this is a far cry from my original idea of re-creating a baroque ceiling painting in a photographic composition - but i feel that this is becoming my piece. it will have the idea of creating an imaginative space in common with the ceiling paintings. that's all. my room will have pictures of broken angels on rotating carousels, videos of people gesticulating without making sense and without connecting to the viewer, and a floor that exists as the roof of the room below, with a mirror on the ceiling to reflect it. this installation definitely hints on the concept of a fairground, and a virtual world (religion?).




















the blurriness of some of the carousel images

refers to its rotating movement, but also to

the quality of photography. building carousels

and using video to make art has focused my

interest in photography on its quality, on its

aspects.

i want to explore this some more....

mirrors

i've been photographing into mirrors to achieve an angle created in ceiling pieces, looking up at something. i'm actually looking down into the mirror, it's on the floor. i've been video taping these photo shoots, too. they will be part of the installation.

A ROOM ABOVE A ROOM

the installation will consist of videos, the floor piece, a mirror on the ceiling of the space, large format photographs.

creating space above

collage of groups of people in conversation - photographing them from above, from a loft - creates exact opposite of ceiling piece, namely a floor piece. viewer looks onto people's heads, as if in space above space. this way i'm creating an imaginative space on top of an already imaginative space - virtual reality - important: gestures/behavior, i.e. seeing a baby, gossiping, etc.


etiquette, self-constraint, courtliness, civility, reason, all properly chronicled and utilized in enlightened Europe -- vs. chaos, precariousness, faith: in my mind, ceiling paintings describe both conditions.