The following collection of experiments started earlier in the year when I was playing around with ways of capturing the movement of air. Drawing Air 1 & 7 were from that initial experiment:

The following moving image is the latest experiment in visualising the elusive media: Air

During the Summer Residency in Berlin, I took part in the Holding Pattern workshop held by Jean Marie Casbarian. The following footage was created as part of the course: 

I continued playing with the ideas generated during Jean Marie's course and the following moving image was an extension of the previous two (above). I was trying to capture Air and its interaction with the landscape while humans form the backdrop rather than being the "stars" of the show (which is how most humans seem to perceive their position). This footage is a kind of perceptual role reversal between the landscape and the human. The humans become the backdrop for the gentle antics and subtle relationships between the environment and air.

I made the following footage in Berlin - continuing to be inspired by the Holding Pattern course. I am not sure where this will all lead, but I enjoy the process and especially the way the viewer has to work hard to see what has been filmed. We are bombarded by more visual material then any other time in human history, so it's somewhat refreshing to be confronted by an image that you have to work for. Does it make me appreciate it more?...I'm not sure, but I do value the notion of slowing down and working to observe instead of being the passive viewer of images forced upon me.

Created also in Berlin in response to the Holding Pattern course. The following moving image experiment is footage of walking alongside the Berlin Wall - such a loaded cultural icon that is extremely sad and heavy and fragile. With the rise of the far right in not only Germany but many countries across the world including Australia, I feel the weight of history rising again in a wave that was unimaginable just ten years ago. The fall of democracy and justice happens far quicker than it rises.

I am not sure what the following moving image is about or how it ties in with the others but I have included it anyway. There is as interplay between air and the landscape. It appears as though these entities are shadows that respond to the movement of air. This footage was filmed in the park next to my studio.

Since returning from Berlin I have spent most of my time in the studio contemplating, reading, analysing, questioning and contemplating some more - mainly focusing on the future direction of this project. I have written a lot during this time and I have been really interested in identifying the assumptions I have created around this work, the research and the ideas as a whole. I want to see if I can flip those assumptions in some way. And while I value this time of contemplation, I also feel its time to start developing the work again. 

The following paragraph was written for my Critique Group in the previous Blog Post:

I appreciate the privilege of taking time out to think and don’t see a problem with it but what I realized during the process was that my biggest problem in creating new work was ego. I had decided I wanted to create large scaled charcoal drawings that then incorporate a form of light drawing over the top in some way – and the thought of this paralyzed me. Facing this scale became overwhelmingly intimidating…and I froze.

During my time of being "frozen," I  had Jean Marie's words perpetually floating around in my head, " Iceland is going to change Everything!" I really hope that this change happens and I am completely open and ready for the potential held within change.  In the meantime, I am continuing along the thread to which I am currently bound.

The following series of moving image experiments were created in quick succession last Thursday (October 5) in an attempt to thaw out. During one of my many moments of staring into space (contemplation), I decided to create a series of smaller charcoal drawings and to then project them to the scale that I had initially imagined and subsequently solving the problem of intimidation. I also came to the realization that through projection I was still, in effect, drawing with light.

I had made a third drawing while visualizing being held underwater, however, when I filmed the movement of air across the surface it seemed wrong to me. Air does not exist underwater (except on a molecular level - H2O).  Air doesn't flow through the water in the same way that it moves above water. The following are some still images of this projection:

I have also spent time collating and documenting in a visual diary all of the information, research,  experiments, and developments of the entire MFA project so far. This has been highly valuable in helping to structure the process into something tangible and easily referenced. 

In addition, I created a wall of images in my studio of 10 artists that work in a way that has some type of relationship to the ideas I am aiming to talk about for my project. I have written about each of the artists represented on the wall and tried to find a common thread that connects them to each other. The following images were taken in the studio. Only specific works from each artist were selected (curated) so that the relationship and connection between them all could become visually apparent.

Another thing I have been considering since returning from Berlin is the suggestion by Jean Marie to decide on 3 books to take to Iceland. This is actually far more challenging then I had anticipated. I have a short list of about 30 books. Currently these are the 3 at the top of the list (however, it's highly likely to change):