"They look like sound."
It's hard to be more public than having the images on a storefront in my own neighbourhood, and the Annex Patio Art Show was a huge success for me as I presented my most unconventional works. Last weekend was the first time I've shown the Mechanism series to a public audience, and largest body of work I've ever shown.
"I don't know what these are, but I like them."
While there's nothing in the world that looks like the Mechanism images, we have a natural desire to place things in context and name them. 'Every Crowd a Voice' was immediately identified as a sound wave; 'Progression and Process' and 'Continuation and Voice' strengthened the communication theme. Continuation and Projection and Continuation and Structure brought across the idea of urbanism, while the dynamism of Every Voice a Shout made it the show favourite.
"It's like DJ'ing with light. It gives me chills."
The Mechanism images are recordings of movement with light – while the capture itself is fundamentally photographic, each creation is a unique performance. Each has a goal and intention, but there's no feedback from the process until it is complete. And although the creation of the images is completely digital, they are typically no more a product of computer manipulation than a scanned film negative would be.
"I can almost hear them."
The ever-expanding Mechanism project is larger than the images themselves, and includes composited audio of the sounds of our city. A five-minute high definition video includes a small sample of these recordings, set into the sounds of the creation of the Mechanism images. Longer tracks, and higher-definition images, will be available at a later date.
A huge thanks to everyone who stopped to say hello at the Patio Art Show; I appreciate being a part of your neighbourhood and your weekend. I hope you stay tuned for more developments both with this series and with my other work.
Comments, questions, thoughts? You can find me on Twitter or via e-mail.
