Digital Maps and Cycloramas

This image shows some of the progress I've made on that transfer I was working on. This picture is actually a little old now.Since this photo was taken, I now have cut a lot more squares out, and layered the piece between four pieces of plexi. I was thinking of work my mentor showed me by Steven Baris. He paints on plexi and uses shadows to contribute to the work. The shadows come into affect on this piece as well, in a pleasing way. I will do my best to get pictures of it soon. I am still working on securing the pieces of plexi together for display. One of the things I am enjoying about this piece is how the squares almost read like pixels, and makes me think of streams of digital information. When arranging the pieces, I think about maps, and layers of roadways.

I used to intern at a photo studio in Manchester, and recently the owner wrote a post about building a cyclorama. A cyclorama is used by primarily portrait photographers to create a rigid, seamless backdrop. The cyclorama has a subtle curve where the wall meets the floor, thus eliminating a seam. The few I've seen are usually white or black. When I was looking at the white cyclorama, I began thinking of what an interesting canvas that would be. Then I began to consider how one could create a space that would have depth but would not allow the viewer to fully enter.

As part of my own photographic practice, I often create panoramic images at different locations. I've been considering presenting these panoramas in a cyclorama form. I don't want them to represent an actually place, so I combined different panoramas to create a new world. It's world you can see, but cannot access.

Here are a couple still in progress:

I enjoy the one on the left more at this point because the pieces blend together more successfully. I ordered paper so I can print them somewhat larger. Eventually, if this idea continues to show potential, I would love to display them on a large scale, perhaps 8'x10', or something. If I used my transfer method, I could make the substrate for the print out of a variety of materials, enforcing the idea that this is a created space. Perhaps combining the cut pieces into this work would be interesting as well.