Melanie
& Jaden have been selected to serve as artists-in-residence for The Story of Light Festival in Goa, India!
With your support we will create
a world-record setting cyanotype on one of the city’s beautiful beaches, as
well as a body of work, inspired by the Festival’s theme, for exhibition in
January 2015.
Children and adults alike will
help us produce the world’s largest cyanotype, which will be created by having
participants lie atop the print and then develop the print together in the
salty waters of one of Goa’s beautiful beaches. The resulting print will be
donated to a local arts charity or community centre.
Your contribution will help us cover the cost of our flights (which are rather expensive around the Holidays), local transportation, visas, as well as extra materials to produce our work and test our large cyanotype.
Contribute
at any level and receive an invitation to our private exhibition in London next
January showcasing the work we produced during our period in residence!
We will
be in Goa from mid-December to mid-January, with the debut of our work and
the attempt to break the record for largest cyanotype occuring during the
Festival itself:
14-18 January 2015
Want to
know more about who we are and what we will be doing there?
We (Melanie and Jaden) met as
students on the MA Art & Science course at Central Saint Martins School of
Art and Design in London, and soon discovered a mutual affection for
alternative photographic processes. As artists and photographers, our practises
both explore humanity’s relationship with the Universe through imagery that considers the source of light, both solar and interstellar in origin, in the production
of our work. During the Story of Light Festival, we hope to highlight
the use of the sun’s energy, and our material
connection to the broader Universe as a source for creativity and inspiration.
The focus of Jaden’s hybrid art-science practice is an investigation of the
material that defines our identity as human beings and the connection of our
corporeal matter to the broader Universe. Melanie researches the parallel
histories of photography and astronomy since the 19th century and how both have
mutually, symbiotically contributed to our understanding of the Universe.
The overarching aim of our
proposed project is to provide a deeper understanding of the way light energy
(electromagnetic radiation) can induce a chemical reaction within
photosensitive emulsions to produce works of manmade creativity and
imagination.
Hopefully, we will inspire
others to continue to explore the concepts and techniques we present, building
their own body of ‘photopoietic’ art.
What
motivates us to be a part of The Story of Light?
The ‘Story of Light Festival’
highlights the importance of light in our understanding of the universe, in the
broadest sense. With the increasing availability of telescopes, microscopes and
other optical equipment, we can look closely at objects we may have not had
access to before. More ‘amateur’ scientists are emerging to see the universe in
high definition, and as artists and philosophers we consider the cultural
impact of these. We were motivated to get involved with The ‘Story of Light’ as
our own artwork, research and interests mirror the main themes behind the
festival. Both of our artistic practices involve the manipulation of light as
an art material, in and of itself, and the optical use of light to view the
universe in depth. We would like to become involved in ‘The Story of Light’ to
encourage the local community of Goa to explore the use of light and simple
chemical compounds to produce creative, expressive artwork. In an age that is
becoming increasingly digital and ostensibly more complex, we would like to
focus attendees’ attention upon the simple elegance of ‘photopoiesis’ --
creating visual poetry with light.
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More of Jaden's work can be seen here: www.jadenhastings.com
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More of Melanie's work can be seen here: www.melaniek.co.uk