Shawn Lawson: Ray Tracings of the In Between: Living Space
Artist(s):
Title:
- Ray Tracings of the In Between: Living Space
Exhibition:
Medium:
- Light box
Size:
- 18" x 24" x 4"
Category:
Artist Statement:
The cluttered spaces communicate both new beginnings and forgotten endings. The tracings left from the laser enhance the feeling of a slipping memory or active imagination. When the spaces are being captured by the camera in the darkness, they can exist as both. A duality that can not be seen. When brought into the anaglyphic format, they leap out of the two-dimensional plane. Small differences in the laser-tracing process that are perceived by the left and right eyes cause the images to shimmer and feel alive. Encapsulated by the dimensionality, viewers negotiate their own memories and imagination within the spaces. Who lived here, who will live here? The space becomes a transition between ending and beginning, old and new.
Technical Information:
A digital camera is set for long exposure in a completely darkened environment. Once the camera shutter is opened, a red laser is used to illuminate the scene one line at a time. When the image is completely illuminated, the camera shutter is closed. The camera is moved an eye-width to either side and the entire image-capturing process is repeated. Both images are taken from the camera into Photoshop. The red channel of one image is placed into the green and blue channels of the other image, creating a correct anaglyphic image, such as those used in 1950s 30 films and comic books. Then alignment, transformations, leveling, and cropping are performed, and the image is printed. Red/cyan glasses are worn to perceive the depth from the original photos. Due to the colored filters, the left eye sees only red, and the right eye sees only cyan. The difference in these color images causes the brain to interpret them as having depth.
