Re: w02 Chronophotography & Marey
Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 2:59 am
From what I read in Stephen Mamber’s article, it is clear that Marey was curious about the way the world works and he used time as his medium of exploration. By capturing moments in time, he could speed them up, slow them down, pull them apart and study how they connect with one another. For instance, when referencing Marey’s zootrope of a bird in flight, Mamber notes that “ the zootrope-with-sculpture is one kind of apt metaphor because Marey would want the viewer to look as much from above as through the slots. The overhead view offered the breakdown into successive moments of movement- the analysis, as it were.”
This interest in analysis brought to mind another artist, Harold Olejarz. Olejarz produced a series of digital scans of his own body parts. In his artist statement, Olejarz explains that “when a camera takes a picture, it captures an image in an instant. When a scanner takes a picture, it captures an image one line at a time. My art exploits the process by which a scanner "takes a picture" to create digital images that do not use software to create distortions or manipulate an image.” In this sense, Olejarz also uses time as his medium of exploration.
Marey used time to help illustrate the way things are. By reconstructing body parts with the help of technology, Olejarze brings to our attention the way things are not. It is an exploration of what should not be- an essential aspect to fully knowing what something is. Reconstruction and deformation is Olejarz’s own way of pulling something apart to analyze its pieces. Similarly, Marey explored movement by freezing it and speeding it up, breaking away from real time. Like photographs, scans and photo copies are supposed to document reality. They are used as a way to gather information and form conclusions. Olejarz’s images are far from realistic- if I saw a man walking down the street with eyes wrapping around his nose and ribbons for fingers, it would strike me as unusual. However, who is to say that these are not real depictions of a real face in real time? This breaches into a whole discussion on reality that I cannot begin to cover.
Links:
http://www.olejarz.com/
This interest in analysis brought to mind another artist, Harold Olejarz. Olejarz produced a series of digital scans of his own body parts. In his artist statement, Olejarz explains that “when a camera takes a picture, it captures an image in an instant. When a scanner takes a picture, it captures an image one line at a time. My art exploits the process by which a scanner "takes a picture" to create digital images that do not use software to create distortions or manipulate an image.” In this sense, Olejarz also uses time as his medium of exploration.
Marey used time to help illustrate the way things are. By reconstructing body parts with the help of technology, Olejarze brings to our attention the way things are not. It is an exploration of what should not be- an essential aspect to fully knowing what something is. Reconstruction and deformation is Olejarz’s own way of pulling something apart to analyze its pieces. Similarly, Marey explored movement by freezing it and speeding it up, breaking away from real time. Like photographs, scans and photo copies are supposed to document reality. They are used as a way to gather information and form conclusions. Olejarz’s images are far from realistic- if I saw a man walking down the street with eyes wrapping around his nose and ribbons for fingers, it would strike me as unusual. However, who is to say that these are not real depictions of a real face in real time? This breaches into a whole discussion on reality that I cannot begin to cover.
Links:
http://www.olejarz.com/