Island Vessel Vivarium I

This is the Island Vessel 1.


Photo Courtesy of Mihnea Vasilescu

But before it turned into the vessel it is now, it begun as a simple idea. A vessel inside a vessel. A terrarium inside an aquarium.



The idea soon turned into sketches...



And the sketches became clearer and clearer in my head (as did the potential for the vessel itself to become real, and as did my obssesion with this possibility...)




Then, I was ready. The idea was clear as glass to me, and the thought of making it a reality became a persistent fixation in my head: "I haaave to maaake iiit!!"
But having no experience in blowing glass, I had to turn to the life-saving helping-hand of the true experts...




I took the idea with me, to the Pittsburgh Glass Center. I shared my idea with a fine gentleman named Everett Hirche -a local artist and technician at the Center- and asked him if making the vesssel was possible, and if it was of interest to him. He was definitely up for the challenge and excited to help me out, and soon him and a team at the Glass Center were discussing and preparing for the making of the Island Vessel.




On Friday, March 5th of 2010, during Unblurred on Penn Av, a small team comprised of Everett Hirche, Jason Forck, Steve Stens and Chris Hofman, brought The Island Vessel into this physical world!
To see how things went down the night of the making of the Island Vessel, check this video out (music by my band Shambolish!):




THAAAANK YOOOOUUUU AWESOME DUUUDES!!



Once the vessel was a full-blown, double-chambered glass piece, I begun building the little worlds inside of it. First I made the terrarium. To do this, I use special tools, some of which I have to make myself. The terrarium contains plants and mosses which I have come to feel comfortable working with, such as 2 species of star moss, violets and a couple of other specimens whose names I don't know. Also in there is a tiny spider and a centipede.
Then, I constructed the aquarium, which contains Java moss, Banana plant, gilled snails and a couple of other snails, barnacles and plants whose names I don't know. There are Ghost shrimp too, and six Zebra Danios.
I showed this piece (unfortunately only for one day) during the GAGI (Geek Arts / Green Innovators Festival) on April 2nd, 2010, along with other of my artworks.



The Island Vessel I (which I also call "my new TV"!) worked just as planned. The magnification produced by the thick concave glass and the water is simply striking. The overal effect is hard to describe or show in the images. It has a beautiful roundedness and definition. As a passionate nature lover, there is nothing more gratifying than observing this active and thriving little ecosystem as if seen through a magnifying lense. I can literally sit to watch this world in a jar for hours!
Also, my ideas as far as the moisture being transferred from one chamber to the other seem to be working great. In the images I do not have the lid on because the terrarium is still too moist to enclose, but Everett did make a special lid that has a sort of drip snout, which conducts drops of condensed water from the aquarium into the terrarium.
Overall, this vessel fascinates me, not because I put it together, but because it is a contained pocket of life; a balanced, living and ever-changing little microworld.






For a slightly closer sense of the qualities of this contained universe, check out this clip of shrimp citizens of Island Vessel:







And I am happy to say that I am not the only one to take great pleasure from the result of all this work. Otherwise, without the chance to create a bit of a sense of wonder in others, my work would be pointless.


Photo Courtesy of Mihnea Vasilescu

Thank you for your interest, which is one of the things that keep my work alive.





AA1o

Stereo Drawing update

So, here is the final version of my stereoscopic drawing entitled "Outer Technology Reveals Inner Technologies". It works! Of course here you only get to see the stereo pair as it looks in 2 dimensions, but through the lenses the 3D effect is quite effective. To experience this piece in the right way, you can stop by The Irma Freeman Center for Imagination, for a show running until May 7th, themed: "Antiquated and Future (or Imaginary) Technology". Learn more about the IF Center and this show here.



As you may notice, the two sets are not exactly the same, and so some interesting interference is created, especially in the colors of the vessel and in the background symbols. I took some liberties as far as creating very differing patterns on the background, so that when seen in stereo, the peripheral elements are not always in 3D. The result is somewhat similar to a certain optical illusion or effect, where the central object is in focus, but the periphery appears to be in motion, until you look at it directly. I am pretty pleased with this effect: it reminds me of a quantum chamber where the particles are multiple and fluctuating, but as one peeks in, only one particle is seen in the center.


Anyhow, here are some images of how the piece was set at the IF. Just for the fun I made one into a wiggle set.

(I love how the canister of chemical next to my piece says FOTOFLAT!)

Finally, here is the statement as it was presented in the show. In there, I finally get to address the actual significance and concept behind the drawing itself, in addition to the descriptions of the optical mechanism (to see more of the initial process, ideation and sketchbook pages go to my previous post "stereo art").

“Outer Technology Reveals Inner Technologies”
Stereoscopic drawing: pen, berry ink, tea, water media on paper.
March 28, 2010

Among a few of its kind, this stereoscopic drawing done by hand highlights an optical technology that is both ancient and new, both internal and external, which is stereoscopic vision. This drawing is also a depiction of a concept which is both ancient and new as well (representing the inner technology) which is the alchemical notion of the Axis/Anima Mundi.

The reason for using a stereoscopic technology (other than the fact that 3d imaging is awesome) is that its mechanics reference the process that our own brain engages in when interpreting visual images. When looking at the (external) world, our two eyes create two separate flat images of reality; slightly different perspectives of the same object. It is our (internal) brain that compiles these two images into one three-dimensional sense. While this phenomenon is as old as our physiology and perception, we normally take for granted the amazing collaboration between external and internal technologies to create –real or otherwise- sensory experiences. It is only more recently that strong interest in this specific optical technology has re-emerged. Today we enjoy movies in 3D that appear to get closer and closer to the likeness of reality. Pretty soon we might come to confirm that what is real is always and only bound to our perception.

The depiction itself is of a personal combination meta-symbol which is very significant to me. It is the Axis Mundi, or “world spine”, which in this case I have fused to the Anima Mundi, or “soul of the world.” These are ideas that fascinate me, and that I have studied a bit. The world axis is a “tube” of sorts which connects realms to one another. Traditionally, the Axis Mundi connects the middle world to the heavens and to the underworld. It is a symbol that can take a large number of forms, and its use is rather universal. The Anima Mundi is the “soul of the world”, also known as God or Spirit, and it is the living force that animates matter, or the life source. Here I interpret the two as one, materialized as a vessel. The vessel is revealed as a type of vision; cloudy, undefined - yet clearly present- and fluctuating between being a solid object and a dream.

Like other of my works, this piece is an object that is broad in scope and multilayered. It is a material offering that references an inner realm or state, which can only be referred to metaphorically, and can only be received on an individual basis. The title of this piece is a direct reference to my most consistent (and at this point repetitive) definition of art, which is: Art is the conscious or spontaneous technology of manipulating physical matter, creating objects that reference non-physical ideas and emotions, that are in turn more closely connected to our transcendental self. An external technology such as art can reveal internal technologies such as knowledge, devotion and passion.

I was going to write more about the Axis/Anima Mundi concept here, but that would require a whole lot more writting that I don't feel like delivering right now. Instead you may be interested in checking out the Wikipedia definition of Axis Mundi. There is enough exciting stuff there to get a whole cosmic revolution started! I also need to catch up with my next post, about the first Island Vessel vivarium. Both this piece and the vivarium were shown during the GAGI (Geek Arts and Green Innovators festival), starting yesterday April 2, 2010.
Don't miss experiencing "Outer Technology Reveals Inner Technologies" while its up!
Thanks for hanging out...

AA1o

Stereo Art

It was inevitable that I would get into 3d imaging and stereoscopy. I have long been interested in vision, perception and optical and visual technologies of all kinds.

For a while, I have been asking the question of how to create a rendition of something that is true to its original form. For example, I may draw in order to capture a dream that I have had, but the quality of the rendition is usually very poor compared to the likeness of the dream itself.
So the technical challenge arises: How to create objects that remain more true to the full physical attributes of their original source? How to create an artwork of a flower that has the smell, vibrancy, depth, softness and life of the flower that inspired its creation? This is a lovely challenge that I can't say I have even begun grasping, but even if it is impossible, it drives me!

Also, say I create something like this, how could I share it with you at a distance?

So the idea is that, I think stereoscopic images can sometimes do a pretty decent job at conveying some of the attributes of physical things.
I decided to take stereoscopic pictures of some of my works, and then I made small cardboard stereoscopes so that one could view them. I was really happy with these, I made 15 of them and thought they were gonna sell out! I still have all 15...
BUT.... since I can't really show you those because you have to look through some lenses, I converted them to what is called Piku-Piku, or Wiggle sets.
Check them out:

This is "Hippocolupterus Sapiens"

And this one is the "POK Goddess"

"The Insect Maker"

And the "Cosmic Trickster Mask"

So these are cool, but they are not what I meant by stereo art. These are just stereoscopic pictures of some of my works. The real challenge I am working with right now is to create a stereoscopic image that is not a photo pair but a pair of drawings that are hand made.
Did you know that Dali actually made a real pair of stereoscopic paintings?!


...that insane genius...

So now I am working on a wet media drawing that is stereoscopic. It's been crazy difficult but it is finally taking shape. I will keep the experiment to myself until it is completed, but I will share a couple of process pages from my sketchbook, to give an idea.











The pair has now been transfered to a piece of watercolor paper and I will render it using tea and Ibiscus flower, and possibly oil pastel and watercolor. I have to color each of the two slightly different drawings in the exact same way...
Wish me luck!
And when I'm done, I'll also tell you what the actual image is about.
Thanks for stopping by!

AA1o

Honor the Inner Oddball

Here is something I'd like to share. It is a 8 minute talk that I gave at the TEDx Leadership Pittsburgh Conference, held on November 14th and 15th of 2009, on the topic of "children and the future".
It sure was difficult to say as much as I wanted to in 8 minutes, but this is what came of this attempt, in the most honest, humble and conscious way that I could summon. Hope you enjoy.



AA1o

Terrarium Creatures

Did you know that there are mini-beasts that inhabit and roam the vast landscapes of my small terrariums?







Yesterday, a big rout of earth-snails hatched..




They are about the size of grains of sand.








...but there are larger and stranger creatures that rule these lands...

Check out a clip I made of some of
my terrarium creatures.

And if you like that video, here is an earlier one featuring a mysterious microworld with amazing plants that respond to water.
Both of these somewhat experimental videos have "music" that I made in 2006. I am planning to make a third video with my sea-snail footage.




Special thanks to my wife Sarah for gifting me a macro lens!

...and thanks to you for stopping by.


AA1o

Life Fixture

This is something I just finished. It will be shown at FE gallery, for a show called H2O @ FE, opening Friday January 29 from 7 to 9pm.

"Life Fixture" is a terrarium inside a test tube inside an aquarium inside a light bulb in a light fixture.


If you have had any previous encounter with my work, you probably know that I am inspired and fascinated by nature. Also, you might know that I obsess over creating and observing miniature worlds, and worlds within worlds. The magnification of these worlds through viewing windows, lenses and domes, is possibly a reflection of my interest in looking at things up close, and absorbing the meticulous details of life. As a child I would spend time outside with a magnifying lens, looking at crevices and growths in my small yard, picturing vast landscapes and scenarios.

Lately I have been touched by the concept of contained ecosystems. It is only recently that I have begun adding living "elements" to my work. I am intrigued by the delicate balance and conditions that allow a small community of beings to live. I am also fascinated by the idea of capturing that harmonized system in a tiny jar. Maybe it is from the chaos in my life, that this need for contained harmony arises...




In this piece I was experimenting with some of these multiple interests. From the basic exploration and excitement in how a concave vessel of water can magnify the likeness of its contents, to the more complex atmospheric interactions needed to allow for life to be sustained, this project felt to me like a wonderful starting point, as well as continuation of my path. Working with inexpensive, found materials was another welcomed recurrence.

One of the neat things about this piece is that there is a level of interaction between the terrarium and the aquarium. In this setup, the slow evaporating water of the aquarium acts as a nurturing source of moisture for the terrarium. This is a first experiment on a theme I am exploring; something in the lines of an "island concept" of sorts (luckily whatever I am doing continues to escape my full grasp...)

Though very tiny, the life in this ecosystem is comprised of 3 terrarium plants, one big water-plant and 3 sea snails that eat it. The plant feeds on the abundant light that seeps through the glass, and the snails keep it well trimmed. Occasionally, I add some tap water which renews the mineral nutrients of the little world.

And now for the grand -or preferably minuscule- finale... if only you saw how cute these sea snails are!!!!





AA1o

Jelly Visions from Other Space!

Photograph courtesy of Professor Benjamin Matthews


"This is the work desk of Dr Demetrius Otis (1671- 171_), devoted researcher and breakthrough discoverer of the Jellyvision. While the term Jellyvision is commonly known to identify a particularly abnormal modern state of awareness, Jellyvision is also the common name of the animal itself which is responsible for causing this state. We are referring to an extremely rare Jelly fish of the genus Plamatia Photoforica, of unknown native origin. The original specimens were found by Dr. Otis himself in the outer wetlands of the 4th version of Minnesota. Small cylindrical eggs were trapped inside river-drifted igneous strata, in a state of Anhydrobiosis, or suspended life. He managed to hatch the eggs and breathe what Otis' collaborator Petxis Ukbar recalls as 11 generations of Jellyvision. During this time, Dr. Otis experimented with a specific attribute of the animal which somehow enabled it to interact with human subjects. Worn as a contact lens, the Jelly Vision would hack the neo-cortex of the subject's brain, by means of a simple set of electrical and photovoltaic impulses sent through the eye. The animal was somehow capable of altering the subject's vision inducing hallucination, hipnagogic trance, and what was described by many of the subjects as a "non-physical sense" or "out of body sight". Otis himself experimented with the strange qualities of the Jelly state, discovering only too late that the exchange would eventually prove of unrepairable consequences. Dr. Demetrius Otis left his desk unexpectedly the night of his 11th experiment with Jellyvision, never to be seen again. His legacy is nothing more than the surface residue of an unknown pursuit; some scattered notes and documents, and a couple of unfinished, undecipherable, living experiments."







But really, this installation work is a two-person collaboration that I am involved in with artist Ben Matthews, for an exhibit called "Exchange". It was organized by the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh and will open Friday February 5th of 2010 at 530pm, at the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Gallery on 937 Liberty Av. So technically yes, you are getting an illicit sneak peek...

This desk is an installation that is the result of a prolonged dialog that Ben and I have been engaged in for the past couple of months. Just as the concept of the exhibit consisted of an exchange between an emerging and an established artist, so we exchanged ideas and personal visions, until pretty quickly a collective concept emerged.

Ben was working on a drawing (a main feature of the installation, the poster seen in the above images) about this idea of the Jellyvision. He described how it was a jelly fish that could be worn as a contact lens and alter the wearer's vision. It was a fascinating idea, and very conducive for all the things we had been talking about to take shape. We decided to use the Jellyvision as the central point to elaborate our utopian reality from.





So Ben had created this amazing document to start from, and my imagination was soaring with potential directions and ideas. At the time I was very intently working on terrariums and I also had started becoming interested in aquariums. As I begun to get some clarity, I realized I could integrate many of my interests into a cohesive materialization for this installation. We had talked about this explorer and time-traveler of parallel realms, who we could depict through displaying his artifacts, tools and discoveries. We agreed on a desk that would capture a moment in this explorer's search; a physical time-capsule of his studies and impossible pondering and discoveries.

The concept grew of an "Incubator" or a vessel where the jellyvisions would hatch and grow. I wanted to use real live elements, and so the Jellyvision grew inside a small aquarium chamber, along living plants and even sea snails. This incubator became the main feature of my contribution to the installation.






This living environment gives the Jellyvision a depth, and a closer likeness to what its true life in the imaginary realm might be like.







The Jellyvision Workspace also includes other living experiments, journal pages, field photographs, antique tools and other strange objects, all of which account for small clues to the puzzle, for us to continue investigating.




For our artist statement we wrote:

We met in July of 2009, while showing work for a 2-person exhibit put together by Mendelson Gallery. We quickly connected, noticing the common themes and ideas that tied some of our work. We even talked about the potential for a future collaboration, and laughed and fantasized about the possibilities of joining our creative minds into a common project. It was near perfect timing when the opportunity came to participate in Exchange, as we knew it was our chance. Ideas started immediately flowing, and in no time a concept emerged smoothly from our joined excitement.
We found a common archetype amongst us; a character or persona who we felt could act as the medium for our common creation. We defined it as a sort of explorer or inventor who returns from his travels through an unknown territory or dimension, bringing back mysterious discoveries, objects, ideas. We decided to concoct a physical space; a laboratory or workspace, used by the man as a base to conduct the research and experimentation following his field studies. In this case, the man is working on a mysterious discovery: the Jellyvision. It is a form of jelly fish that can be worn as a contact lens, thus possessing the powerful attribute of altering the wearer's vision. While we intend to share a peek of this man’s explorations, we are aware that these yet-unknown worlds will remain as much a mystery to you as they are to him. At least until the next missing link can be recovered...




AA1o

Terrariums!

I have been making small terrariums.

First, there was one.

Then two.

And then three.

Soon, there were many...

It all started by accident, one day in the woods when my son Javi uprooted a tiny patch of moss from a rock. A "car accident", he said. For some reason I felt compelled to take the moss home and take care of it. I put it inside a walnut shell so I could transport it.

When I got home, all the little moss plants had shriveled and shut close. I was amazed at how sensitive they were. I sprayed them with water once, and watched, in total awe, how one by one, each of the tiny spider plant-like shoots begun to open in real time, before my eyes. For the first time, moss appeared to me as "animalistically animated" and alive, like amoebas or octopuses or hands or eyelashes.

In that moment, I decided I was obsesively fascinated by moss. Hundreds of different species and varieties of miniature, ancient and resilient green creatures that grow in the cracks of our constructed space, slowly and silently plotting to reclaim the world in nature's name.

I begun collecting and caring for different species, trying to observe and learn about their atmospheric likes and dislikes, quiet behaviors, etc. I also did some research and begun understanding some basic considerations and conditions neccesary to support and sustain a terrarium's life.

Speaking of the terrarium's life, let's go a bit deeper into these micro worlds...

I love these worlds. I love to make them and arrange them, trim them, water them, run around inside them and get lost. And find something.

Maybe to better convey the space that I get into when working on and observing these, I can share with you a video I made, called "mysterious micro-world". Also here you can see the sensitive plants I was talking about before. Just so you know, there is no effects on this video, no changing of its speed or anything. Only the creatures, a musical piece I made in 2006 and Javi's finger.

After a little while the terrariums were cluttering my kitchen. I felt like I wanted to keep making them, but there seemed to be no room. I also had to work on an exhibit for which I had to create 25 artworks that were 5 inches or less. I put it together and decided to make terrariums for it.

After a lot of research, I begun collecting all the materials I would need. This took a long time, since I had to find and prepare the proper environment, select and collect compatible specimens, and put it all together. Then regulate the atmosphere, find the right balance of moisture/soil/container/plant, and sustain the contained balance of a new living environment. But I had some experience from the previous terrariums that had worked, so this didn't seem like too much of a risk.

After about a month or two or daily care and regulation, and definitely after some failures and learning experiences, I completed the 25 terrariums.

Each terrarium is different and special, and while I have grown a bit attached to them, I am hoping they will find happy new homes.

The exhibit is called "25 squared" and it opens tonight, December 10th, 2009, from 7 to 9 (I actually have to get going!) at FE Gallery in Lawrenceville, Pittsburgh . The exhibit runs until January 16th. (Update: It is now 10pm on the opening night, and 16 terrariums have been sold! Wow... So, if you would like a terrarium better get there now!)

Its a cool concept show were 25 artists make 25 artworks that are 5 inches or less. The exhibit looks amazing, with a total of 625 quality works.

I setup the terrariums in these beautiful shelves made by John Mentzler, from Urban Tree Forge. The shelves are gorgeous in themselves, and they really work perfect with the terrariums.

So the terrarium journey has been great so far, and I feel like it is just beginning. I have another large-scale terrarium project coming; an installation piece that I hope gets accepted. But I am going to keep it secret until I actually create and implement it.

For now, it is only an idea...

AA09