Introductory Blog and the Magic Lantern

Hello Class,

My name is Nathan Dolorfino, and I am a fourth year History major without a specific concentration. I am taking Projection Design because I have a deep interest in digital arts and media, and in spite of the major I hope to be designing video games one day. Now that I have briefly introduced myself, Professor Pagano asked us to blog about this little thing below.
















That “thing”, as most of you probably know by now, was called the “Magic Lantern”. The Magic Lantern was an early image projector made in the 17th century. It used a light source, a slide with a printed image, and a concave mirror to focus the light to produce an enlarge projection of the image on the slide. While simple by today’s standards of digital projection the same principle is still found in classrooms throughout the United States, i.e. overhead projectors. Since that point we have evolved image projections into fully animated images, provide a depth of field to the audience, and wow them with spectacles of three dimensional images projected in space before them. Nevertheless, it is humbling to know that all our projection media today came from something as simple as casting shadows on a wall at a campfire.

Here’s a video talking about the MosAika Sound and Light Show at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, CA. This is just an example of Projection Design and how far we have come.



Another Example is the Vocaloid concerts in Japan.



Regarding the paper we read as a class, "The Emergence of Video Projection", I found it to be an excellent introduction to the idea of Projection Design and its relationship to art. The author attempts to point out the artistic merits of video projection by explaining its uniqueness as a medium. One of the explanations that really intrigued me being a history major was the authors comparison of single frame classical art forms such as paintings with video projection. The author states that classical paintings and sculpture required an understanding of the stories and myths behind them in order to gain an appreciation for the works, and that without that understanding one relied on symbols and features to try and interpret the work. Video on the other hand provides the artist control of the story and thereby the intended meaning is conveyed better to the audience. While I do enjoy paintings and sculptures, I have to agree with the author in that video does provide accessibility to audiences beyond its time in the way it is able to convey an intended narrative. Paintings and sculptures on the other hand can have relative meanings to the audience if the work is not fully framed in its period very well. This article has really shown me how video projection is in itself a true art form.

While reading this article, all of you have probably come across the names of different artist of this medium cited by the author. One of my favorite of the bunch was Bill Viola. Though I could not find the exact works cited in the article by Bill Viola online, I came across a few nonetheless. I particularly liked his works called "The Reflecting Pool". It uses simple effects by today's standards, but it still interest me how he was able to tell a narrative through the focal point of the video, which was a pool of water.



Well, that all I have to say for now. See you all in class.

-Nathan D

Reggie Wilkerson

Hey Guys, my name is Reggie Wilkerson and I'm a senior Digital arts and Science major in the college of engineering. This is my second class with the digital worlds institute but will be my third project with them. Being a DAS major, I work mostly in the low level programming like C++ (OpenGL) and java but have developed an interest in video making and editing over the years. I want to go into 3D animation ( movies or television) so I look forward to presenting a few of those ideas with a different medium like projections.

To say the least, I thought the article was interesting. Clearly the best line in the whole thing was the last "That may be because video is still too young for art history." Throughout the article I felt the writer was trying to define this fairly new genre with wishy washy descriptions of Artist works. They would comment on how the style has evolved but then say some of the artist would use a contemporary style but because it was so contemporary it was not at all. Granted the article does make a lot of relative points about how advancement of technology has allowed artist to explore more venues and present things in interesting ways but (maybe its just me) I did not think it was well organized.

I guess what I'm getting at is, I do not think one opinion is ever enough to make something concrete. I like Alexa's comment on how it does not have to tell a story but at the same time why can't it. Or why can't you just present a story in a new, visually stunning way. Artist style stays the same until someone breaks the mold and starts a new trend. I believe digital projection is not limited to that definition because it can be almost anything and not stick to some rules or guidelines. This takes me back to the "Magic Lantern" reading where it could used to scare people. Projection is just so incredibly diverse that we can evoke a wide range of emotions.

Tim Difato

Hey guys, I'm Tim Difato. I have worked on several projection designs in the past on multiple screen formats and sizes. Majority of my design and work is video based and comes out of after effects so it is crucial that I learn how to present my work professionally through any medium. (i.e Television, internet, projectors etc.)

I found the article very interesting and with a lot of good insight on a new an emerging medium, projection design. I enjoyed the idea of relating this form of art to the classical pieces such as paintings and sculpture. The article discussed the idea that traditional art, (paintings, drawings) required some form of pre existing knowledge to adequately receive and interpret the story being told from the art. (As well as a post or pre show discussion by the artist). This makes the traditional (canvas based) form of art very difficult to tell a story, unlike other mediums such as video, projections and even novels which can use frames or a linear timeline to layout the story being told. I enjoyed this analysis as I have never looked at those pieces of art in that way.

The main purpose of the article was showing how projection design is not as much about the tangible "art", (by analyzing a free standing piece such as a sculpture) but rather being immersed in the experience. Projection design allows artist to tell stories by creating an environment for the spectator to walk into experience the story.

This was a very interesting piece and I look forward to further discussion.

Tim

Hello Everyone, my name is Alexa Henderson and I am signing in to the Digital Projection design portal... I am excited about this course and hope to create a music visualizer that can be projected during a live music performance at the REVE at the end of the semester (with Pat's permission of course... =)

The paper, "The Emergence of Video Projection", was a good introduction to the concept of video projection and to some of the important artists of the medium. I personally found the work of Bill Viola (Room for St. John's Passage, The Sleep of Reason) and Peter Campus (Three Transitions) to be most interesting and cohesive as visual experiences, or ideas.

The paper's likening of video projection to classic forms of art, ie painting and sculpture, was an interesting insight, in that projection design does not seek to tell a story, but is more akin to evoking an experience. Video projection also lends itself similarly as painting and sculpture do, to the ranks of contemporary art, an educated echelon "steeped in modernist doctrine", who enjoy high culture and disdain base commercialism. In short, video projection is a legitimate form of art that is still young in its emergence.

Magic Lantern

Magic Lantern

Is a very basic design, it has a mirror it front of a light and is scanned out through a lens. It is the first projector ever made in the 1650s. Originally lighted with a candle or oil light, until the most advanced change was the electric arc lamp. The arc lamp was the first electric bulb use in the projector.

What i find most interesting is how it was originally used, to scare & manipulate people, for a profit. Even though this was created during the scientific revolution, the mass of people did not use reasoning to understand. Mostly used it to project ghost & trick people into belief of the rising of dead. My favorite example Johann Schropfer, who used it to manipulate and scare people into believing he was a better actor, which in the end drove him crazy and he shot him self.

Basically the magic lantern was used from the 1600-1800 to manipulate and scare people. Not until the 1900s, was the purpose used for entertainment.