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Practice as Research Portfolio 3: Images of High Resolution Portraiture
As of end December 2011 approximately 13,750 people have seen this portfolio in public exhibition.
At the beginning of my 2007 AHRC Creative Research Fellowship I formulated a 36 month Schedule to investigate my core research question:
‘In what ways will High Resolution Imaging change the work produced in the convergence of art and visual technologies and consequently, our experience of that work?’
To answer this question I formulated the idea of ‘Quantum Resolution’ which proposed that audience immersion would be felt with parcels of resolution increase rather than small incremental increases. I created 3 practice as research portfolios (PARP’s) as differing strategies to uncover the effects (if any) of increased resolution. These were a) to examine everyday moving images of the world, b) examine iconic moving images of the world and c) examine human portraiture and ideas around the human gaze. This work now leads on to another AHRC research project which will now seek to measure the immersive qualities of high resolution images.
In this third PARP I decided to explore the complex issues of why the human face fascinates us so and why the human form within the environment excites interest. I decided to shoot life-size portraits at the highest possible resolution, and then project all the images life-size. This meant constructing a 20 foot x 10 foot screen for exhibition.
There were two instructions for the subjects who stood in front of the camera: a) stand still for 1 minute to refer to Victorian Exposure times and b) hold something or have something near that spoke of their enthusiasm, work or character.
What the viewer sees in exhibition is 20 foot wide shots with a person depicted standing still, life-size. Sometimes people do not realise that these are moving images and experience a small shock of excitation when the realise the liveness of the person in front of them - which attracts the behaviour of approaching and gingerly examining the screen. This work lies at the very edge of what is known in human depiction as ‘uncanny valley’. The limnal boundary where people accept the depiction as real.
I began with Glastonbury Tor and around 20 individual portraits, then went on to Cannarregio in Venice, Bristol, New York, Beijing, Spitalfields, London and finally Portraits of the Working People of Somerset. There are now some 200 life sized high resolution portraits which have been shown at various exhibitions.
I kept audience comment books from many of the exhibitions which demonstrate the effect on the audience.
NB - if a direct link is not given below to an artefact or exhibition, most of my work can be found at: http://www.visualfields.co.uk/history0.htm
Posters, visitor comments and reports from Exhibitions: http://www.visualfields.co.uk/posters.htm
What follows should be taken as a whole and lists artefacts, exhibitions, journal articles, conference papers and online resources that support the research in this portfolio.
In this third PARP I created the following Artefacts to explore aspects of the research question in relation to portraiture and the human gaze:
136032 Portraits of Glastonbury Tor, High Resolution Digital Installation, Various (1st, Somerset Rural Life Museum), 2008. http://www.visualfields.co.uk/TORPORTRAITS.htm
136037 Ritratti di Cannaregio (Portraits of Cannaregio), High Resolution Digital Installation, Various (1st Exhibition, Venice), 2008. http://www.visualfields.co.uk/cannaregio.htm
136055 Portraits of the Somerset Carnivals, High Resolution Digital Installation, Various (1st Exhibition, Somerset), 2009. http://www.visualfields.co.uk/carnivalembed.htm
136056 ‘Portraits of the Centenary, University of Bristol’, High Resolution Digital Installation, Various (1st Exhibition, Arnolfini, Bristol), 2009. http://www.bristol.ac.uk/centenary/look/art/portraits-film.html
136062 Portraits of Spitalfields, London, High Resolution Digital Installation, Various (1st Exhibition, London), 2010. http://www.visualfields.co.uk/sixscreen.htm
136063 Portraits of the Arrow Tower, Beijing, High Resolution Digital Installation, Various (1st Exhibition, London), 2010. http://www.visualfields.co.uk/sixscreen.htm
136061 Portraits of the Flat Iron Building, New York, High Resolution Digital Installation, Various (1st Exhibition, London), 2010. http://www.visualfields.co.uk/sixscreen.htm
This investigation gave rise to further extensions of the idea:
136065 Self Portrait in the Digital Domain, Low to High Resolution Digital Installation, Various (1st Exhibition, Salisbury), 2010. http://www.flaxton.btinternet.co.uk/NESelfprotraitdigitaldomain.htm
136057 Three Moving Image Works of Extended Portraiture, High Resolution Digital Installation, Various (1st Exhibition, London), 2010. http://www.visualfields.co.uk/alfglasspole.htm
136066 Until I'm Gone, an examination of abstracted digital Self Portraiture, High Resolution Digital Installation, Various (1st Exhibition, Salisbury), 2010. http://www.flaxton.btinternet.co.uk/PRINTS.htm
136064 Portraits of the Working People of Somerset, High Resolution Digital Installation, Various (1st Exhibition, Somerset), 2012. http://www.visualfields.co.uk/
These were Exhibited at the following locations and comments books were kept to record audience response at seeing higher resolution images which were not then available:
136329 Portraits of the Working People of Somerset, Glastonbury Abbey, Somerset, 07/10/11-22/01/12, 2012. http://www.visualfields.co.uk/
136328 Portraits of the Working People of Somerset, Bath Museum of Work, 08/07/11-27/09/11, 2011. http://www.visualfields.co.uk/
136335 One Person Show of research works from AHRC Fellowship, Salisbury Arts Center, 01/10/10-31/10/08, 2010. http://www.visualfields.co.uk/P3exhibition.m4v
136333 Time and Resolution: Experiments with High Resolution Imaging, P3 Gallery, London (University of Westminster), 07/12/10-21/12/10, 2010. http://www.visualfields.co.uk/P3exhibition.m4v
136426 3 International Exhibitions (France, USA, Japan), Museum of Modern Art Strasbourg, Yokohama Creativity City Center, New York Center, Millennium Magazine, -, 2010. http://www.flaxton.btinternet.co.uk/history0.htm
136413 High Definition Technologies and Aesthetics, Watershed Media Center, -, 2009.
136418 Imaginists - 2 small exhibitions of work from Venice, Gallery 204, Bristol - The Phoenix Arts Center Glastonbury, -, 2009. http://www.flaxton.btinternet.co.uk/imaginiststalking.htm
136325 Portraits of the Somerset Carnivals, Somerset Rural Life Museum, Glastonbury, 10/09/09-05/10/09, 2009. http://www.visualfields.co.uk/carnivalembed.htm
136423 Portraits of the University of Bristols Centenary, University of Bristol Assembley of the Court, Wills Building, 2009. http://www.bristol.ac.uk/centenary/look/art/portraits-film.html
136412 Screening of Research work, Bergen Elektronisk Kunst Senter, Norway, -, 2009. http://www.flaxton.btinternet.co.uk/history0.htm
136322 Portraits of Glastonbury Tor, Somerset Rural Life Museum, Glastonbury, 16/09/08-21/09/08, 2008. http://www.visualfields.co.uk/TORPORTRAITS.htm
136323 Ritratti di Cannaregio (Portraits of Cannaregio) & Un Tempo Una Volta (Once Upon a Time), Scarabocchio Studio Grafico, Cannaregio, Ponte degli Ormensini, Venice, 12/09/08, 2008. http://www.flaxton.btinternet.co.uk/NEPortraitsCannaregio.htm
The above activity fueled further reflection which I then presented in the following Articles and Conference Papers:
Journal of Media Practice 2013 - to be titled
136135 'High Definition Imaging: the Paradox of Creativity within the Academy’', Watershed Media Center, Journal of Media Practice Symposium 2011. http://jmpscreenworks.com/hive/news/article/?id=14
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This is not a complete but an open ended process. Its ramifications feed through to other PARP’s plus other initiatives that I am now working on for future research. Though presented in a linear fashion, the research work is in fact a continuum of behavior which is intended to lead toward answering my core research question so the emerging and developing ideas for calibrating exposure of future work for higher immersion and impact were further discussed in the following Internet Publications:
136176 'High Definitintion and High Resolution Motion Imaging', Blog 75,000 words, http://highdefinition-nomercy.blogspot.com/
136179 'Understanding Digital Cinematography', Online resource around 75,000 words
& I further refined my thinking and presented more emerging ideas in the following invited talks to Research Communities: 'Myth and Meaning in the Digital Age', Invited paper to research community ETH Zurich, 2010. 'High Definition Technologies and Aesthetics', Bergen Institute of Fine Art (Invited Paper to Research Community), 2009.
TERRY FLAXTON
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