Pinhole Photography

This being my first experience with pinhole photography I was impressed with the demonstration in the gallery. There was a small hole poked in a wall, all of the windows were taped shut and the lights off. the only light source was coming from this tiny hole. Upon my entrance there was nothing to be seen, just this jet of light spearing in the hole. Then we were asked to hold up a piece of large paper and wait several minutes for our eyes to adjust to the darkness in the room. After a few moments the image appeared on the sheet of paper. It was an upside down image of the courtyard outside.

I'm still not quite sure how exactly this is achieved but it was very impressive. When we took down the piece of paper the image was projected on the wall on the other side of the room. The image was much more fuzzy and without knowing what it was I doubt I would have been able to identify it, nevertheless it was interesting seeing the image change as we moved the paper closer and further from the hole and observed it's change.

Three Times of Day

Candle Burning as a method of timekeeping

In 980 AD King Alfred the Great used burning candles to tell time. This technique was developed in monestaries where monks would burn candles to space out times for prayer. However this method is credited to King Alfred. Notches were often made down the candle to represent sections of the day. The job of watching the candle and sounding the bell when it was time for prayer was a very important job which was highly respected in the monestary.

Response to James Turrell

I think the most interesting thing that James Turrell said was the last thing he said. he was talking about how when you read a book you must "pay the price of admission" for entering the world of that book. This seemed very interesting. he then mentioned that the price of admission for entering his crater project was that you would have to walk there, or so it seemed. This is something I have never seen in art before, usually people try to make their work assessable to as many people as possible, but to see somebody intentionally put their work out of reach to a large number of people and have that actually be a part of the work is highly unique and I feel that it will keep away a lot of whiny ignorant tourists.

As for everything else he spoke about, I didn't think much of it. Not to say it was bad or uninteresting, but it seemed that to have an appreciation for his work with light or the sky one must first have an interest in light or the sky, which I do not. Perhaps if i were to go visit one of these locations or to see one of his pieces in person I would think differently.

Inside view of the crater project

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