When I was a senior in college, I used a process called Hydrographic (sometimes referred to as Water Transfer) printing to combine photography and sculpture. I took portraits of my classmates in the studio (which happened to be my first real studio experience) and then printed them on a special paper which dissolves once laid in a water bath. the result, is the ink from the portrait floating on the surface of water. Once you dip something, in this case a plastic mannequin head, into the ink, it adheres to the subject and is on pretty strong once dry, but is extremely fragile while wet. I added a clear coat to protect it even longer. This head is one of sixteen unique heads.
Below is the website I used to learn the process, and buy all the materials I would need. They were a great resource and I hope to do more projects with this process.
Full set of instructions: https://www.prostreetgraphix.com/instructions/
Online store: https://www.prostreetgraphix.com/store-2/products/
A very interesting (if not creepy…) effect Marcus. Do you have more examples?
I do not have the rest of them documented yet. I hope to get more examples soon!
Very interesting. I have done ink floats/dips but not with an image. Very cool idea to put the faces on a blank face. I'd love to see this with the table cropped out and a little more head space. If you didn't see the table, the image would have a jarring, confusing aspect that I actually think would actually enhance the effect.
Regardless, I would love to see more!
I agree with you, Ruth. (Had to happen, sooner or later, I guess...) I'd be tempted to do what you say by making the bust fade into nothingness, leaving the viewer wondering.
Thanks Ruth and Chris, I will have to try that with the rest of them!
Yours is a completely different (and far more involved) technique, but it reminds me a lot of the visuals Tony Oursler did for David Bowie's video for Where Are We Now as well as Steve Reich's mix of Love is Lost.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWtsV50_-p4
Thanks for sharing, I hadn't seen this before!
Hi Mark, an interesting concept. to me this looks a tighter crop. negative space in the composition could have helped.
I agree, when I took the image that you see here, I was only thinking in terms of documentation and not making it an art piece on its own. I will definitely be shooting these heads again in a more artistic frame of mind.
I understand what you mean about the photograph being documentation or a vehicle to share this amazingly interesting work of art. I do a lot of 3D artwork and I also used to photograph it just for the purpose stated here. However the photographer in me started to enjoy creating a secondary piece of artwork from the original. What grew out of this is that now I actually make some artwork like other photographers would create a still life or pose a model strictly for the purpose of creating the photograph. The 3D portion is an intermediate. I mention this because your subject is so interesting that I think, if you thought of the photograph as another step on the artistic journey, you might come up with something really unique and in a style that would be all your own in the graphic community. Just a pep talk because some people criticize photographing art as if it's somehow cheating. However extending your own artwork into a new realm is completely valid. You aren't photographing someone else's art but just taking yours to a new, different place. I think the level of interest here in your work shows that there are legs to the photographic side of your interesting art. Best wishes.
Thanks Ruth! Reading this comment put a smile on my face. I think I will explore making a final image of the piece, that is (hopefully) as strong or stronger than the original piece itself! Thank you for inspiring me!
Powerful, disturbing and strangely beautiful, Marcus! Great job.
I agree with Ruth as far as creating a 2D image out of your sculpture is concerned. The concept could be taken further (not that you necessarily want to - it's far out already...) by obscuring the physical reality, although it could then be too close to fantasy or cartoon imagery for you liking.
Thanks for the input! I would love to do this project again and push it even further. I would love to see what the image would look like if I push the medium beyond its limits. How would the destruction of the original portrait play with the mannequin heads, and then how can I capture the sculpture in a way that is interesting to the viewer with out needing to know that it is even a sculpture. A lot of different ways this project can evolve!
I really like the concept have you thought about trying anything else with this medium?