James Welling at The Hammer

(images from James Wellings Website)

The James Welling lecture at the Hammer last Thursday was an intimate and inspirational lecture that exceeded my every expectation. Mr. Welling structured the lecture in such a way that the audience was able to see his work and what inspired his work in a chronological order beginning with his early love and use of water colors at age 14, up to his most recent abstract works in progress involving water and the photographic process. Some of my favorite bodies of work by James include his photographic series of aluminum  foil and light sources as well as his abstract photographic prints exploring color theory with only the use of an enlarger and photographic paper (no film is involved in the process). James Welling is a true revolutionary who has pushed the boundaries of photography into new and exciting areas of experimentation.

Chris Hanke

Differences : Blackberries

 

Object: Blackberries

Dimensions: 1/2" - 1" (varies)

Material: blackberries, paper towel

Inventory Date: 1-18-11

Location Found: Ralphs, downtown LA

20 Differences:

1. sizes vary from 1/2" to 1"

2. overall shapes vary from circular to oval

3. depth of the pit

4. ratio of light to dark spheres making up the berry varies

5. amount of hairs

6. length of hairs

7. placement of hairs

8. shape of smaller spheres from circular to amoeba-like

9. some berries are bruised

10. some berries ooze juice

11. some hairs fall off onto paper towel

12. some are softer while others are firm

13. some appear dustier than others

14. size of spheres varies

15. smoothness of surface varies

16. amount of spheres making up the whole varies

17. pattern of the spheres varies

18. thickness of berries vary

19. shade of pit varies

20. shape of pit varies from circular to oval

Chris Hanke

Dreams - Point Projects

Point 1. My dreams (as in sleep)

• they're forgettable
• they're imaginary, fiction with real life influences
• they're in color (or I remember the color the best)
• I can writethem down, talk about them & reimagine them
• Sometimes they come true, sometimes I just want them to
• They're usually surrounded in a fog/mist --like a view finder
• Sometimes its through my eyes, sometimes I am the observer of myself
• They can be traumatic, fun, interesting, usually a combination of those & others
• They are good inspiration
• They are unique, yet universal

To Display:

• I can talk about them.
• I can make a movie about them.
• I can write them down.
• I can draw a comic about them.
• Sound of the dream (like an audio-book)
• Translate it into a different language
• Paint it.
• Brain map / MRI
• Series of dreams highlight which is mine.
• dream research.
• Mapping of dreams vs. real life

Point 2. My freckle on my nose.

• It is brown
• It is asymmetrical
• It is surrounded by lighter freckles
• It is the darkest freckle on my nose
• It is the biggest freckle on my nose
• It is off center
• It is on the left side of my nose
• It is at the top of the bridge of my nose.
• It attracts attention
• You can see it when you look at my nose from most directions

To display:

• Take out my other freckles
• colro it a different color
• i can put a glowing aura around it
• I can draw an arrow to it
• I can frame it
• I can duplicate it all over my face.
• I can raise it
• I can darken it.
• I can plot its GPS coordinates
• I could take a picture of it.

Point 3. My fingernail (left thumb)

• At the moment it is painted sea foam green. The paint is chipping.
• I have almost complete control of how I want them to look.
• It grows, and I must cut it.
• It cannot feel pain.
• It can inflict pain.
• It, without paint, mimmicks the color of my skin.
• It is held in place by skin.
• It looks similar to my other nails, but only on my left hand.
• It can get dirty.
• It is unique, yet universal

To Display:

• I can paint it a different color than the others
• I can leave it unpainted and the others painted (vice versa)
• I can draw a map of wherever it goes.
• I can graph its growth
• I can grow only it out super long.
• I can write song about it.
• I could follow it around for a day with a movie camera.
• I could draw it.
• I can wear a glove with a whole in it showing only that nail.
• I can trace it.
  

Saguaro - Point Project

Saguaros in Saguaro National Park - Arizona

Description:

Green plant, doesn't move in the wind, covered in thousands of thorns, can have multiple arms but always has only one base, can get up to 50 ft tall, grow very slowly; takes 75 years to grow one arm

Ways to give it attention:

1. Draw a picture of it
2. Identify the park on a map
3. Take macro photos of it, and display them
4. Drawings or Images of just the spines on the cactus
5. Build a miniature model of the park
6. Cut all the Saguaro's down except one
7. Color all the spines red
8. Reverse everything and make it into a large spine with Saguaro's growing out of it
9. Place one in the middle of Alaska or a really snowy place
10. Make the spines massive in a painting

SUPER Sunglasses

Description:

Black face, two horizontal lines in the middle of the lenses, top line blue and bottom line red, from an angle you can see the layers that make up the glasses, each layer is a separate color, no label on the outside, only inside, glossy finish, black lenses, can't see the eyes of the person who is wearing them, slightly oversized, Flat across the top, round on the bottom.

Ways to bring attention:

1. Drawings/Paintings of the sunglasses on a bright colored background
2. Photo shoot the sunglasses alone with a white background
3. Spot light on the sunglasses in a glass case, displayed like a gem at a museum
4. Put them on a pedestal and put large arrows pointing at the sunglasses
5. Painting as if you are looking through the lenses
6. Make a 20ft painting of it
7. Paint a mural on the side of a building of them
8. Wear all white and put on the black sunglasses
9. Wear them on the center of your shirt
10. Wear them at night

Gold 'M' Necklace

Description:

The size of my thumb fingernail, shiny, gold, hangs about a fists width down from my neck, doesn't come off unless I take it off, hangs on a thin gold chain, very rectangular font, you may not notice it when first looking at me.

Ways to bring attention to it:

1. Wear all black and let it hang
2. Change the color to a bright red
3. Make the 'M' upside-down
4. Put it on my forehead instead of my neck
5. Make the 'M' 10x the size
6. Make it glow in the dark
7. Make it hang very low, close to my belly button
8. Make the chain thicker
9. Draw a circle around where it hangs on my chest
10. Paint a picture of a neck with only the necklace on it and nothing else; no clothing

Monica Ahanonu

Point Project

1. Fire Alarm

Description: red, metal, hanging on wall, round, loud, smooth, older, feeling of urgency, contrasted to background, and dull

Emphasis:

1. brighten the color

2. create shin

3. smooth out texture on wall behind it

4. put on rectangle background

5. draw sound waves

6. enlarge it

7. map it out

8. contrast red with green background

9. create photo with fire in the background

10. keep image simple and focus on loud noise playing behind it (used)

2. Laptop

Description: white, smooth, high-tech, heavy, plays music, clear screen, many keys, stores photos, connection to world, and expedient

Emphasis:

1. put on black surroundings

2. blast music from it

3. put on top a pile of books

4. fill screen with pictures

5. project internet browser in white room with lap top in the middle

6. put on scale to show weight

7. enlarge

8. show map of where it is on screen

9. put wheels and racing stripes on it

10. take a part to show all pieces

3. Love

Description: powerful, impalpable, invisible, sweet, generous, emotional, can be found anywhere, personal attachment, virtue, and affectionate

Emphasis:

1. write a story about it

2. act it out

3. sing a song about it

4. write the word in pink/red

5. say “I love you”

6. fill a room with candles

7. send letter/text/email

8. write a poem

9. make room warm and hazy

20. spell it out in stars

Point Project: Steps

The steps outside the art room at Green Hills Academy in Kigali, Rwanda:

-You can hear them whenever they are in use, the creaking of the hinges, the bending of the metal

- The puddle of water surrounding the last step after it rains

-The group of students constantly surrounding the banister, gossiping, sharing notes

-The scraping of the shoes on the concrete block below it

-The wind pushing the cover of the stairs back and forth

-The mixture of grass and cigarette smoke creating a wall of air just past the steps

-The back exit, closest to the dining room, visible to the headmaster and blocking the view of the art room.

-They overlook the thousand hills of Kigali

-They are part of the new extension to the school

- A deep forest green to match the uniforms of the students

Display Methods

-To change the direction, to throw off the natural movement of the student body

-Disrupting the constant flow, blocking the waves of green uniforms.

-To change the weather, to make it snow, blanketing each step with a layer of white, the cold air biting at the red cheeks of the kids.

-Adding music to each step, bringing to life the ntore dancing and enriching the natural rhythm of the students

-Removing the light and forcing chaos. Students falling, tripping up and down each step, the usual banging exaggerated to an extreme.

-Disrupt the uniform structure and colour of the stairs. Painting them a fluorescent colour, contrasting from the green and cream of every other aspect of the school

-Slanting each step and creating a slide, the screaming of the girls scared to go down ad the pushing and shoving of the boys trying to prove their masculinity.

Point 2 My black notebook, sitting on the floor of my room:

-On top of the grey manufactured carpet

-Below the dark mahogany desk

-covered by last semesters books, old sheets of paper, discarded clothing

- Inside my apartment, through the kitchen and dining room, past the bathroom, to the right of my roommates bed

-Leather bound and falling apart. Marked, stuffed, scratched, worn, beaten.

-Stuffed with images, drawings, cutouts, words, illegible musings, boredom

-A story teller of the past few months of my life. Each experience, every idea, inspiration, thrown inside.

-The pages weathered from spilled coffee. Originally a crisp white colour, the pages have dirtied, having an older creamier look

Display

- Changing the scale, enlarging the entire notebook.

-Taking some of the images of the notebook, focusing just on those images.

- Taking the story line from each page and recreating it.

-Shredding each page, showing the instability, the impermanence and the passing of each moment. Constant change, nothing stays the same.

-Photograph each page and display them side by side

-Completely deconstruct the book and display

- Open the book and display it in a clear, sealed box.

-Paint over each page in black, covering everything on it.

- Glue the book closed.

- Hang the book from the ceiling

Point 3 A cut line in the table:

- A line deeper than any other cut into the table

-sharp, you can feel the knife going through the plastic

-it is the darkest of all the indentations in this table

-about a foot in length, slightly curving from midway down the table to 3/4 of the way down.

-the edges of the slash pealing back against the rest of the surface.

-Paint seeping down the slit

-The lasting impression of the work of an artist.

Display

-Fill in the rest of the surface of the table, making just the one line visible.

- Make the line deeper, darker, more obvious

-Make the colour of the line more vibrant

- Make a sculpture of the table/ slash. 3D

-Deepen the line, forcing it all the way through the table, shining light through the line.

- Make thousands of deep lines in the table.

-Make the lines white on a black table, black on a white table

-make the line wider, as well as longer.

-have knives sticking out of the table.

-have performance art and have the artist actually cutting into the table

Pistachios

1. Some pistachios had a shell, some didn't.
2. Striations in shell differed.
3. Variation in streak/color of shells.
4. Some pistachios were split in half.
5. Some had the thin layer of skin veiled around the nut, others did not.
6. Some pistachios were completely green.
7. Other pistachios had some brown streaks and brown spots.
8. Some pistachios had a green to yellow ombre effect.
9. Some pistachios were cracked.
10. Some pistachios look shriveled.
11. Some pistachios look smooth.
12. Shells varied in opening size.
13. One shell completely sealed.
14. All different sizes.
15. One pistachio is shaped like a bean.
16. Other pistachios shaped oblong/oval.
17. Some shells have a small circle at the bottom, others are less prominent.
18. Some nuts appear to be peeling.
19. Some pistachios look wrinkled and dry.
20. All shells have different textures.
21. Some nuts are flatter, while others are more rounded.
22. Some nuts have jagged edges.
23. Some nuts have smoother ridges.
24. Inside of split pistachio yellow
25. Lying in different positions (some on side, some on back, etc.).

Three Points

Point 1: Eye of a Needle

Currently sitting under my desk at home in Texas, held upright by a sewing machine, limited to vertical direction, bobs up and down, a tiny hole cut out of metal- empty/negative space, the metal around the eye defines the point, can see through it, holds thread, makes stitches, pierces objects, holds material together.

1. point to it

2. make a treasure map

3. magnify it

4. take a picture of it

5. illuminate it (using light from sewing machines)

6. follow the stitches

7. identify it by what is seen through it

8. give the exact longitude/latitude coordinates

9. write a visual description about it

10. make a human sized needle so the eye would be proportional to a head

Point 2: The Moon

Silvery, white, yellow orb, floating in the night sky, largest object in the sky, not a smooth surface- presence of craters visible from the earth, constantly appearing to change shape by waxing and waning, although its physical mass and shape is constant, appears to glow, a 3-dimensional object, even though we only see a 2-dimensional object.

1. eliminate everything else in the sky except for the moon

2. use a telescope to see it

3. arrange the stars in the sky to point to it

4. make a painting of it

5. tell a folktale about it

6. represent it with cheese

7. eliminate the moon itself (people tend to notice some things when they're absent)

8. have a bunch of satellites orbit it

9. build a ladder to it from the surface of the earth

10. take an inverted photo of it ( black on white)

Point 3: Top Right Tack on Poster

Silver tack, holding up poster, anchored into the wall, light reflected off of it, probably made out of plastic but dipped into silver paint, located in the FA-102 class room, smooth texture, blends in slightly to the poster and the wall, smaller than my pinky toe.

1. draw arrows pointing to it

2. eliminate everything but the tack

3. enlarge it to the size of a hand

4. change the color to something more vibrant, like hot pink or neon green

5. put a spotlight on it

6. zoom in on it so you can see every single detail of it

7. take it out of the wall and feature it in a museum exhibition

8. dip it in hand sanitizer and light it on fire (so the tack doesn't actually burn)

9. take it out and put it in a natural context, like soil (to emphasize industrial v. nature)

10. write a eulogy praising it for holding up a poster

Point Project: Antenna

1. Tip of Antenna
Description: silver, reflective, metal, comes to a point, captures radio waves, connected to rod, is a source of news, information, entertainment, and advertisements, if broken that information would be scrambled  

Emphasis: 
1. hit the tip with a spotlight
2. paint the tip a different color
3. isolate the tip against a neutral background
4. photograph the tip and throw the background out of focus
5. play music through the radio but only have the antenna visible
6. create a sign pointing to the antenna
7. create a sign that reads "connecting you to the rest of the world" above the antenna
8. draw representations of radio waves and attach them to the antenna
9. film a video of just the antenna but include the audio from the radio
10. rip the antenna off the radio and place it in the middle of a field


2. Bolt in Table Top
Description: silver, reflective, partially rusted, surrounded by wood, blunted by age, disturbs flow of the wood, creates indents and splinters in the wood, adorned with specs of yellow and green paint

Emphasis:
1. add more specs of paint
2. remove it and place it on top of the table
3. spotlight it
4. macro photo of bolt showing fine details
5. surround the bolt with a single color
6. draw the bolt and make it the brightest element of the drawing
7. etch designs into the bolt
8. place pencils around the bolt, all pointing inwards
9. sing a sing about the relationship between the bolt and wood
10. film the bolt and place it in the center of the frame, include the audio of the bolt being drilled into the wood

3. Griffith Observatory
Description: concrete structure, consists of domes and curves, a telescope sticks out from one of the domes, has several binocular viewing stations (if you brought quarters), illustrates the spatial relation between all the planets in our universe on the walkway leading to the entrance, sits a top a dominant hill within waving distance of the hollywood sign

Emphasis:
1. paint it orange
2. shine a light through the telescope making it a giant flashlight
3. draw a map from USC to the observatory
4. photograph the structure in black and white and use a red filter to darken the blue sky above it
5. set off the fire alarm
6. leave a trail of purple paint from the entrance of the park, up the hill, through the tunnel, and end the trail in front of the observatory
7. have several helicopters shine their spotlights on the building from all angles at night
8. cut down all surrounding vegetation, the hill will look terrible, but it would draw more attention to the observatory
9. project the view of the night sky onto the observatory
10. blow up the hill below the observatory with dynamite to create a cloud of dirt that commands everyone's attention, when the dirt cloud settles, viola, the observatory is revealed

Chris Hanke

hands on.

POINT #1: the mole on my right hand.

description:

-not centered

-darker than my skin

-in line with my index finger

-only mole on the back of my right hand

-stands out in the corner

-in the center of a triangle of veins

-not perfectly round

-never changes

-blurs at the edges

-placement makes my hand look like a square

display options:

-lighten my skin

-take a close up picture (zoom in on the mole itself)

-make it more defined (no blurred edges)

-make a cartoon drawing with contrasting colors

-enlarge a picture of my hand

-make it a map (veins are roads, and mole is destination)

-make it a landscape (my knuckles are mountains, mole is climber)

-delete any hair or wrinkle on my hand

-enlarge the mole on my hand

make it pop out/give it a shadow

POINT #2: push pin

description:

-only red push pin

-not in the corner of poster

-matches lettering on poster

-holding up two posters

-small

-stands out on black background

-lonely

-surrounded by contrasting colors

-gives off a glare

-directly above the "I" on the poster

POINT #3: the front camera on my iTouch

description:

-top center of my iTouch

-couple shades lighter than the rest of iTouch

-sitting on the table

-facing a diagonal (iTouch is slanted)

-smaller than menu button

-higher up than menu button

-focused because of three rings within the camera

-angled away from the center of the room

-small but important

-facing up

THE END

Point Project: The moon

Moon
1. Round & reflective.
2. Dominant in it's world, easy to go unnoticed in ours.
3. Shape shifting; constantly growing and shrinking
4. Its influence spans far beyond its place in the sky; gives light all around.
5. From our perspective on Earth, we can't fully grasp it's enormity!
6. The whiteness of the moon juxtaposes the dark night sky
7. Even when it's unseen in the lunar cycle, it's still there.
8. King of the Stars!
9. High up, making it powerful.
10. Humans can't touch or move it.




Emphasis:
1. Delete all other stars around it.
2. Use charcoal to fully color a white paper, than use an eraser to make the shape of the moon
3. Write a song about it being lonely and neglected (entitled "blue moon" perhaps?)
4. Depict the moon as the king and all the stars as its helpers/peasants.
5. Take a photo from the ground up to emphasize how high & powerful it is.
6. Paste different light sources together in the shape of a moon.
7. Show a photo of the world lit up with the moon, and without the moon, to show the influence that the moon's light has.
8. Advertise the moon as the ultimate night light, "Let there be (night)light" could be the tagline.
9. Put together a series of photos to track the moon's constancy over time; show people looking at the moon in different time periods.
10. Make a word bubble of a cartoon moon saying, "hey, look at me!"

A Tack on the wall
1. Small!
2. Made of plastic.
3. Powerless.
4. It has a twin right next to it.
5. It has a small shadow under it to emphasize it.
6. The tack was once used to hold something up.
7. It often goes unnoticed, now that it's not used to hold anything up.
8. So useful! Our art would fall down without it.
9. There is a light shining on it and reflecting off of it.
10. I have the power to move it; i can put it somewhere else, pick it up, put it lower or higher.

The Tip of my nose
1. It travels.
2. It doesn't have much of a purpose.
3. The outermost part of my face.
4. Squishy; fun to push the cartilage.
5. Leads me when I walk.
6. Small/unnoticed.
7. Eskimo Kisses: the boss/ringleader.
8. High up on my body, giving it more power than the tip of my big toe.
9. Simply being on my face, it has power. Not anyone can touch it.
10. I can't move it without distorting my face permenantly; it's there to stay.