PUPA major studio 1Rachel Law

Concept‘Pupa’ is an art performance installation exploring the illusion of power within a transformation as well as the unknowable nature of a chrysalis-self.The title ‘Pupa’ refers to the lifestage of insects undergoing transformation, as well as the Latin word for ‘doll’.

precedents (technique)Klaus Obermaier, Apparation (2004): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3btvEAE133kMiwa Matreyek, Dreaming of Lucid Living (2009): http://youtu.be/FPWjA8nAmuo

precedents (concept)Paolo Ventura, Automaton (2011): http://www.paoloventura.com/Katarina Fristch: http://www.matthewmarks.com/artists/katharina-fritsch/George Shaw: http://tinyurl.com/69q7n5qEric Rohmer’s Triple Agent, William Gibson’s Idoru , Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness & Wong Kar Wai’s 2046

Stage 1Inspired by de Kooning’s statement: ‘flesh was the reason why oil painting was created’Motif idea: myth of Pygmalion and Galatea bring things to ‘life’ via transformation

Stage 1 iteration-execution

art performance-live painting pieceType 1: timed animation using 3-d modelling overlaying; separate bones combining to form the final shape of a skull which will ‘leap’ from the wallType 2: using openCV edge detection to overlay polygonal pixel shapes while painting to transform the flat colour into 3-D

Stage 1 iteration&sketches

Stage 1 iteration&sketches

Stage 1 iteration&sketches

Stage 1 problemsToo literal interpretation of ‘flesh’ did not capture the nuances of powerlessness and unknowableTime limit 2 weeks to complete a 3-d rendered humanoid skeleton animation is close to impossibleNo depth, no real form, seemed like an easy way out

Stage 2 ideasExplore more kinds of ‘flesh’ Earth? Mud? Moss? Light? Makeup? reinterpret the concept of ‘painting?’ Related mythologies of Frankenstein/Golem and current modern manifestations of Pygmalion myth i.e makeover tv shows or even shows like My Fair LadyStill need a form(!)

Stage 2 explorations

Stage 2 explorationshttp://vimeo.com/32444017 (using light particles to paint)http://youtu.be/518XP8prwZo (using sand and lightbox)

Stage 3 ideas Solidify choice on ‘painting’ using ‘light’New modern interpretation motifs transformative sequences from the ‘magical girl’ cartoon genre (form problem solved!)execution choice using ofxKinect or chromascreening?

Final ExecutionINSERT VIDEO LINK HERE

further developmentsComplete the full animationSwitch from greenscreening to ofxkinect to make the installation fully interactive to any participant

?endThank you for listening!