Carousel, merry–go–round, roundabout or flying horses – I do not know which is the favoured name in Melbourne. (Comments please!) However, this one is definitely of the Australian variety with the typical outback themes painted on the canopy.
HDR photography brought the colours alive on what was an otherwise very gloomy, dark and cold evening – not a child in sight!
There are a few brief magical moments as the sun is setting, when the city briefly becomes just black and white. Within minutes the buildings light up, the neon lights flicker and the streetlights herald in the evening.
This image was caught a few days ago – coinciding with the winter solstice, the time of the year when the transition from day to night seems to me to be at it’s fastest.
I just can’t resist! Glass facades and windows with reflections hold a strong fascination. Anybody that has read this blog will have noted several previous posts about the topic – and here is yet another entry.
Story Board, props and a shooting list was all ready for the “Distorted Self Portrait” – but as I was driving down from the Hills to the designated class – I came to the realisation that my original idea was #%^&!!!
Nothing like a traffic jam to allow the mind to wander – by the time I reached my destination-I had a completely new idea formulated (and the car still in one piece). It was quickly filmed, and I felt elated. But when I came to edit it – I realized I had another #%^& on my hands.
A perfect blend of Pinot Noir and poem by Edward Hirsch called “Self Portrait” gave me new inspiration – Disjecta Membra evolved.
The basis for this stop-motion animation is from Muybridge’s original images. The images were modified in Photoshop and the animation was put together in After Effects.
In 1872, a race-horse owner, had taken a position on a popularly-debated question of the day: whether all four of a horse's hooves are off the ground at the same time during a gallop. Up until this time, most paintings of galloping horses showed the front legs extended forwards and the rear legs extended backwards. Stanford sided with this assertion, called "unsupported transit", and took it upon himself to prove it scientifically.
Stanford sought out Muybridge and hired him to settle the question.
Muybridge used a series of large cameras that used glass plates placed in a line, each one being triggered by a thread as the horse passed. Later a clockwork device was used. The images were copied in the form of silhouettes onto a disc and viewed in a machine called a Zoopraxiscope. This became an intermediate stage towards motion pictures or cinematography.
What an exceptionally successful trip we had to Sydney – well-organised, good company, spectacular art and even the weather was kind.
Some of the art I saw was just amazing - some, I may understand in the next few days and some had connotations of “The Emperors New Clothes”. But, as I have come to understand - that’s art.
I thoroughly enjoyed our few hectic days of total art emersion – thank you David for another well-planned excursion.
