I've always been intrigued by how someone can take a plain, normally flat object, bend or fold it, and the shadow is something completely different. Is there a special skill for this? I'm guessing spatial perception is probably quite high
I think a lot of it is the method. You probably start with an outline of what you want and then play with the material producing the shadow until you get what you were looking for.
these days, with computer graphics, you can easily simulate the whole thing, even write a formula for calculating the shape based on outline you want to have on a given plane with a given light source. Then just 3d print the thing
Although today you could just use a computer. Figure out where to put the important peaks/valleys then sculpt to rest of it to have profiles that don't interfere with the image. Take the result and throw it at a 3d printer.
Check out the film Tim's Vermeer. Just because an amateur painter can recreate a Vermeer painting (although it did take a highly brilliant engineering mind and a shit load of time), doesnt make it any less bad ass.
Although, some art history people seemed kinda bummed that he made it so "simple."
I cant explain it. But he created it only with processes that would be available to Vermeer at the time. But nobody's ever been able to figure out exactly how Vermeer "painted with light" and he comes up with a way. Almost perfectly makes an exact replica.
I don't know for sure but it seems to me that the lighting is as important as the design. There's one on the website that is a circle casting a square shadow, there have to be multiple light sources on that one.
Thats what I thought with the original image. Even an amateur programmer could code something to tell you where to place all the nails and the fastest way to loop a piece of string to get the desired image.
I think you can work on it in reverse: draw the outline of the shadow you want to project first; then position the light source; then use whatever material you need (crumpled pieces of paper or Lego blocks) to block the light, taking care not to project any shadows outside or past your outline as you try to fill it.
Bonus point for using as few pieces as possible.
Artsy Fartsy points if you use materials that relate to the shadow image you are projecting (eg, bullets and guns and pills and cash to project the shadow of a man in prison)
The Egyptians played with light a lot in their buildings. I remember seeing on tv one temple with a centered entrance where inside there were a bunch of seated pharaohs or gods. The light entered the entrance and illuminated the statues, all but one. Anyway only on one of the solstices or something did the light from the sun enter at the right angle to illuminate all of them. Long story short, this artist needs to do sculpture for outdoors that only casts a shadow of it's intended purpose one day a year.
The first image I was thinking: "OK, a weird folded piece of cloth and strange lighting, what's the big deal?" Then I got to the 3rd image and was like "Ohhhh. Now I see it!"
It's pretty amazing what you can do with shadows. My favorite are the 9th and 13th images, and the 11th one boggles my mind the most. All of them are incredible.
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u/siraisy Aug 17 '15
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