"Espais"
This project has the name "Espais" translated into English as "spaces", and consists of a video and 6 prints.
It is a set of A3 prints, based on Museros' aerial perspective, on A2 size paper. Specifically, there are two different prints: 3 in which the built-up spaces are represented with black ink and another 3 in which the black ink represents the streets or space in which the human being can move. Both, although they represent the same reality of space, cannot be perceived by the individual in the same way.
This second piece is a video that makes use of the previous prints superimposed on a screen recording of a timelapse of the town of Museros. With the information collected through the satellites, Google Earth creates photographs in this space collected from 1984 to the present. It is curious that there are certain places (as in this case) that appear with poorly defined and pixelated images. With this, the viewer is invited to think about the perspective of space posed by technology and image.
This work is based on the study of space, specifically on cartographic studies that try to pass a real 3D space to the plane.
Mapping is the study that analyzes and gathers data from different regions of the Earth to represent them graphically with different linear dimensions on a reduced scale. To carry out this process, a geographic information system (GIS) is currently used, which relate various elements that allow storage, analysis and modeling of data from the real world, associated with a specific space.
Today's technologies have facilitated information in digital format through Computer Aided Designs (CAD) that have georeferencing capabilities.
My project is based on the use of these GIS technologies incorporated in the day-to-day life of human beings and how they influence the perspective of space. The progressive implantation of the web in people's lives and the daily use of digital devices have contributed to demonstrating that spatiality and locality continue to be relevant in the lives of women and men, showing a strong hybridism between the physical and the digital, being the maps transitory tools of this relationship.
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Neogeography is a neologism used to mark the presence and relevance of the use of cartography in Internet.
For Turner (2006), "Neogeography means" new geography "and consists of a set of techniques and tools that fall outside the realm of traditional GIS, Geographic Information Systems. Where historically a professional cartographer might use ArcGIS, talk of Mercator versus Mollweide projections, and resolve land area disputes, a neogeographer uses a mapping API like Google Maps, talks about GPX versus KML, and geotags his photos to make a map of his summer vacation".
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For this I have made use of the Google Maps and Google Earth application, that offers scrollable map images, as well as satellite photos of the world and even the route between different locations or images at street level with Google Street View,
Creative Process
First of all, for this project I wanted to work with the concept of identity and artificial intelligence in relation to the individual and digital technology.
As in my country of origin I am doing Fine Arts, my first interest was to work the materials with my hands and then incorporate cinematographic and photographic concepts.
My first idea was based on building a clay face with a “robotic” facial expressionless, on which different videos of humans with remarkable expressions would be projected, and then create a video in Adobe Premiere about the Installation and the work in question.
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Brainstorm. First idea for the project.
Clay Face (not finished)
For this idea I was inspired by a previous project that I created in Spain:
As I was working with this idea I realized that it did not satisfy my interests in the way that I have done other projects. In all my works I like to include the theme of space in relation to the work, and from this talk about identity. In conlusion, in this work I felt that it was necessary to approach these concepts in a different way.
Although building a face with clay means the deconstruction of an empty space and the construction of a new form of interaction with it, it was not the main theme of the work. I wanted space to be the main theme and use this to talk about introspective identity.
With this concept in mind, I set out to brainstorm ideas and questions: How do we understand and perceive space? How is a physical space transformed into a digital one? Are maps an accurate transcription of space? Is 3D space correctly represented in 2D? Are we talking about the same space when we refer to a real space and an artistic transcription? Does perception influence our way of representing this? Where does the digital space exist?...
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Study of space represented through drawing
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Throughout history, art and the artist have incorporated space and its human perspective into their work. We can highlight artists like Robert Irwin who, through his production, seek to influence the viewer's visual perspective on the art gallery space.
But in this work, my intention is not to influence the viewer and change their spatial perspective, but rather, with my work, I intend to understand and make a study of how 3D space is represented and transferred to a 2D one. In this way the question is posed to the observer: Are we talking about the same space when it is transferred to paper? Is this new represented space influenced by human perspective?
The impression of space, in relation to visual perception, is a set of sensations that allow us to be aware of a specific space (measurements, height, depth ...).
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The study of space is of great importance in disciplines such as architecture, geography, urban planning ... that is why, for this project I have wanted to include two artistic axes that, at the same time, work in the same and different ways: the drawing of maps and Photography.
While photography is a 2D representation of space, it is closer to perspective, the eye and the human understanding, meanwhile, although map drawing is also a 2D representation of space, it appears represented in a more abstract, and under the influence and technological knowledge. An example of this would be google maps: new technologies and media have influenced and changed our concept of space, since they allow us to observe from a different perspective that cannot be reached from the human eye.
The perspective of space.
Google map screenshot of the map of Museros
Sandra Balaguer (2021). Study of Space, London.
Therefore, for this new idea, I first set out to explore the space through which human beings move, and the best way to do it was through the use of the concept of "drift theory".
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The theory of drift belongs to the situationist panorama of the twentieth century, which was characterized by the taste for the creation of random situations or events built within the temporal space and unitary urban environment. In this space a "drift" takes place and creates infinite possibilities and situations understood as the creative process of the work of art, giving way to a symbiosis between art and architecture.
Therefore, from the situationist artistic point of view, we can define "drift" as a technique of steps in space that is opposed to the classical notion of travel or passage. The intention of the drift is to explore the space in order to qualify it and add temporal, cultural and emotional dimensions.
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Guy Debord, a leading figure in the situationist movement, refers to drift as: “To do a drift, go walking without a goal and schedule. Choose the path not based on what you know, but based on what you see around you. You have to be alienated and look at everything as if it were the first time. One way to facilitate this is to walk at a measured gait and look up at a slight incline, as well as to bring out the center of the visual field architecture and leave the road surface at the lower edge of view. You have to perceive the space as a whole and be attracted to the individuals. "
With this idea in mind, I went to London, Southampton and Farnham to do a drift and take photos of the space I was traveling through.
All these photos are analog and were taken with a film in black and white (ILFORD HP5 400) and another in color (Fuji Film 400). The intention of these photos is to capture the perspective of the space in which the human being develops.
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Although the concept of drift is based on walking without a destination, at the end of the drift I had to return home, and therefore make use of google maps. While using this app I realized how the same space is perceived from another perspective and I thought about making a map for my project.
To make a map, I did not want to work with a place where I did not feel identified, so I chose my town where I live in Spain (Museros), and take the work to a more intimate and personal aspect.
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Photos that help me to study maps
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Inspiring artist works with ink
With all of this information in mind, it was time to get to work and shape the idea. I had wanted to work with stamps, prints and linen for a long time, so I thought that for this project the material could fit good.
I went to the arts store and bought a small stamping set to test and see what ink and linen should I get fora good result.
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Testing stamps
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Sandra Balaguer (2021). Marjal del Moro.
After carrying out several small tests, I took a screenshot in google maps and printed the map in A3 size to be able to carve more comfortably on a linen of the same size. The idea was to make two different types of prints, one in which he would carve the streets, and another in which he would carve the buildings.
I bought onion paper with which I began to delineate all the streets of the town, and then I transferred it to linen, and finally I began to carve.
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The first stamp I made was the most difficult since I had to eliminate all the building spaces and only leave the streets. It took me about two weeks, and once finished I did several tests on paper to be able to give the final touches. The second was easier, I re-made the drawing on onion paper to be able to load it on the linen, and it took about a week.
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Onion paper
Stamps.
First Stamp
Second Stamp
Once the tests were finished, I started to make the final prints. This was the result:
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​Scanned Prints:
Once the stamping was finished, I started working with the video. At first, I wanted to record how a projection could change the way the engravings are viewed, and for this I rented the OHP projector and the Casio projector to make different tests.
The first option was to place one of the papers on the wall and, with a bowl of water, create reflections and lights whit the intetion to limit or hinder the perception of the map. When I finished, I edited the video with Premiere Pro, adjusting colors and adding contrast to create black shadows that deteriorate the image.
This was the result:
As I edited the video, I kept doubting with this test since, although I was carrying out a project of my hometown, I felt that I had not taken it sufficiently to the personal terrain. So I thought of another alternative:to use my room ,where I am currently staying, and mix it with the prints of my hometown, to represent a kind of connection between two completely different places but at the same time with a great sentimental load for me. I filled the room with prints and placed the projector with a bowl of water just like the previous time.
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This was the result:
I have to emphasize that throughout this process I was attending tutorial classes to receive feedback from Jeremiah, which helped me a lot to clarify several ideas. It made me rethink about the work since perhaps the origin of the concept was beginning to be lost with the making of these videos. In the brainstorming, that I did the first weeks, and my interests were focused on how technology made use of space, and for this in my project I had set the objective of working with applications such as google maps or google earth, which (although I was using them to create the maps) I was not including it in a more visual way in the final video.
After a long talk, Jeremiah suggested that I could use Google Earth.
Google Earth has an option to see the change of the terrain over the years, and while I was investigating this tool more closely I noticed that my town appeared very grainy, while other areas collected better graphics.
In previous classes we had learned to use the obs and screenshot. I remember Jeremiah taught us endless possibilities and artists who made art through the use of the internet and digital images. I liked this idea and therefore I made use of the OBS to capture my hometown timelapse.
Finally, to make use of the stamps I thought about combining both formats, so I used photoshop to eliminate the white spaces and leave the black ink, and then I superimposed them on the screenshot. With premiere I adjusted the colors, trimmed the edges and added contrast. Finally to emphasize and adapt the print to the video I added deformation and color changes to emphasize the loss of pixels.
Finally, I got to work on the audio. As I mentioned before, I wanted to take the video to a personal level, so I thought about asking my family for a recording of the ambient sound of Museros. My father, using the mobile phone recorder, walked several streets that I usually walk on in my day to day. It is curious that without knowing where he was walking trough, I recognized the streets just by listening the audios that he sent to me. This made me reflect on the fact that the perspective of space is not only visual but also auditory.
Also I would like to highlight the contrast of the video with the audio. While the video is difficult to view, the audio remains clean and adheres to the ambient sound of Museros. This ironic contrast intends for the viewer to understand the space from a more conceptual perspective not limited to the human eye and reality, and to understand it from a sensory technological perspective.
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To finish talking about the creative process, I wanted to include some screenshots of the edits made in Premiere Pro:
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Inspiration and influences that helped me to develop the idea for this project:
Research
Conclusion
It is the first work in which I incorporate the digital space as a main theme. In my country of origin, I usually work with the physical materialization of the work, therefore working with this format has given me great knowledge about the Internet and the technological space.
Also, for the first time I have been able to work with materials such as linen and carving tools. I've gotten better at video recording, photography, and image editing, and I have acquire more knowledge regarding video artists and digital artists.
Finally, it has allowed me to know and improve regarding the elaboration of ideas and development of the creative process of a piece of art.