If It's Hip, It's Here (Archives): installations

above: James Hopkins, Decadence and Demise, 2006 (image courtesy of hamburger-kunsthalle)

Skulls, skulls, skulls. They are everywhere these days. But Artist James Hopkins at least has a diference take on them. He has a series of mixed media pieces called Vanitas in which random objects and furniture are composed to create the image or illusion of human skulls.

The term "Vanitas" (sometimes the term "Momento Mori" is used in its place) comes from a practice in which Dutch painters put symbolic imagery of death into their still lives during the 17th century.

above: Last Chord, James Hopkins

Hopkins has created a contemporary version of the practice and is quoted in a Wallpaper Magazine interview in 2006 as saying: ‘I think of vanity when I see my image in the mirror, of knowledge when I read a book, and of indulgence when I drink wine or play music; but all of these things are lost in acknowledgment of seeing the skull reveal itself.’

Black Still Life, 2007 and Consumption & Consequence, 2006:

Design for Life, 2006 and Prosperity & Decay, 2006:

Wasted Youth, 2006 and Shelf Life, 2006:

However, says Hopkins, ‘I don’t want people to think of these works as being negative or morbid — in fact, they should be read as a celebration of life.’

In addition to this work, John Hopkins has many wonderful pieces. See more of his work here.

Another collection inspired by the Dutch "Vanitas", if you have not yet seen it, is the chair, ottoman and lamp by Vladi Rapoport:

Based on a technique and process described later in this post, Drzach & Suchy have created Shadow Casting Panels that that appear as one image in the morning light and another in the evening light. With some clever image choices like Marilyn Monroe becoming Marilyn Manson, it's evolving art that can be used as installations or wall art of several types.

Multiple images are encoded within a single physical object — a white panel, which displays the separate images under appropriate lighting conditions. The underlying principle of our technique is based on a simple observation: the shadow cast by an object depends not only on the object itself, but also on the light; therefore the same object under changing lighting conditions can totally change its appearance.

The technique of encoding multiple images in a panel, so that single images become visible under varying illumination (so-called Shadow Casting Panels), was invented by Drzach in 2004 (patent pending), and then developed further by Drzach & Suchy.

"Moderne" in the morning light:

"Moderne" in the evening light:

"Moderne" in every step in between:

Marilyn(s):

Point Of View (Hitchock's Psycho images):

Pop(e) Culture:

Co-exist:

Videos of the light changing art

Relativity:

Idol:

Batman:

Obama or McCain:

Installations:

The process:

Shadow Casting Panels (SCP) is a novel way for storing and presenting multiple images using one physical object. The images to be stored in a panel are first rasterized and converted to a black-and-white format, and then jointly encoded into the panel. More precisely, the images are considered in a pixel-by-pixel manner, and for each pixel of the an appropriate building block is placed at the corresponding place in the panel. The type of the block depends on the colors of the particular pixel in the images to be encoded. The actual blocks can have various geometries, yielding a variety of possible designs and perceptions.

The technique of encoding multiple images in a panel, so that single images become visible under varying illumination (so-called Shadow Casting Panels), was invented by Drzach in 2004 (patent pending), and then developed further by Drzach & Suchy. For more details as to how this works and the process see the original thesis as a pdf here.

If you'd like to purchase or exhibit any of the presented works, or are interested in the Shadow Casting Panels technology, please contact them at DrzachSuchy@gmail.com.