Presented as two large format holograms, unfurl::project is the collaborative construction of Martina Mrongovius and Sruli Recht.
Unfurl was made for the Experimenta New Visions Commision interactive media art exhibition VANISHING POINT
Two moments, an encounter with an optical world :: two large format holograms, presenting a derailed segment carved from a minute of figures in solitary
These old-world yet almost post-human characters are like memories of another time. As you approach they beckon you into their enchanting world, yet remain forever elusive, suspended in light.
The holograms are rainbow transmission images which are then colour mixed with LEDs. Each hologram measures 38 " x 52 " with the figure appearing 45 " in front of the film.
These two holographic images are captured from a minute of time along with peculiarly beautiful digital habitats are sculpted into optical dimensions. Presenting a derailed segment carved from a minute of figures in solitary… This collaborative work is an expressive stance, exploring the techniques that superseded the archaic approach to photographic documentation, capturing a few moments of interaction between light, human and clothing as they move into a new dimension of art. The holography captures the beauty of dynamic geometry playing like a graceful craftsman with space light. The garments displayed and worn in these pieces will be created solely for the models and for the purpose choreographed in the holograms. The clothing will show an architecturally constructed touch, dancing off the body to play with the shade, contrast, depth and repetition necessary for this composition.
The Unfurl::Project holograms are part of the
Experimenta Vanishing Point Exhibition
1- 24 September 2005 Margaret Lawrence Galleries at VCA
40 Dodds Street
Southbank VIC 3006
phone:: +613 9685 9400
so, unfurl is holograms... pretty much.
two of them.
and they are big.
and there was alot of little and big bits that happened in the making.
the most intersting part was developing the idea of showing time unfold in the holograms.
Presented as two large format holograms, unfurl::project is the collaborative construction of Martina Mrongovius and Sruli Recht.
This project was an experiment with the assistance of Mark Ruff, Ged Wright, Paul Allister, Eness/Everlab and produced at Holographics North with Dr John Perry.
unfurl::project
Production Story
(technical-ish)
Unfurl::Project, began when our two protagonist (Martina Mrongovius + Sruli Recht) were stranded by a heavy English shower and left to ponder their collaborative worlds. Created from this situation the holograms, each captured in a moment, unfurl the light with a subtle animation of form.
The figures, enveloped by Sruli Recht’s meticulous fabrications, were surrounded by Mark Ruff’s array of cameras. The information, altered to memory, evolved into digital environments when handled by Ged Wright. Then, in the lab of Holographics North, the information was geometrical transformed and recorded by lasers.
At Experimenta::Illusions 2006 these two holograms with be exhibited
(short programmed text::style)
: project, began when our two protagonist (Martina Mrongovius + Sruli Recht) were stranded by a heavy English shower and left to ponder collaborative worlds. The creation that began resultued with themselves in holograms, each captured in a moment, directing the light to unfurl:
more bits of story for press…
The two large holograms created will each reveal a subtle animation of a meticulously garbed figure.
These 1300 mm tall illusions are brought to life by the movement of the viewer around the hologram.
MARK RUFFY – time splice/camerra arrary photography www.ruffy.com
HOLOGRAPHICS NORTH large format studio www.holonorth.com
Digital post production GED WRIGHT
Documentary photography by PAUL ALLISTER
Space…BOURGIE Little Lonsdale Street Melbourne
ENESS/EVERLAB rapid prototyping www.eness.com.au
lenticulars technology BART KELSEY
BYTECRAFT – LED lights, www.bytcraftentertainment.com,au
With a big thank you for the marvellous assistance of Rebecca Elkington, Katherine Hanton, Taryn McClean, Kim, Mickey Yu and the Melbourne Fashion Festival.
* credit
Martina Mrongovious & Sruli Recht, Unfurl::Project Beequence, 2004-2005 [holographic film, wool, steel, cotton, pixels and light]
&
Martina Mrongovious & Sruli Recht, Unfurl::Project Stairquence, 2004-2005 [holographic film, wool, silk, cellulose, steel, cotton, pixels and light]
Our Industry Partners in Detail
Mark Ruff Photography – Mark Ruff generously donated his time, experise and technology to the project. While Mark is Australia’s leading camera array photographer much of his work takes place overseas. Working mostly with film and television Unfurl is his first opportunity to participate in an art project and create holograms. The shoot was a fantastic experience.
Holographics North – The studio at Holographics North is the only place in the world able to create large format holograms. Dr John Perry is looking forward to this project and has offered us a discounted rate to use his facilities. John has volunteered to assist with the production and also being giving us advice on the creation of the image sequences.
Eness/ everlab – the infamous fellas at eness, clearly known for virsual and other earthly delights, have helped make possible otherwise awkward elements of this project. Of one, they devoted time in helping produce the umbuster [used as feature in the shoot]. These are the only team in Australia that, although stupendously busy, could wrap their heads around this work. One could wax on, though experimenta is familiar with them enough.
The process used to animate these holograms is generally known as multiplexing.
Multiplexing encodes multiple images so that can they be revealed in a meaningful order. In the Unfurl holograms it is the position of the observer that determines what images within the hologram are seen.
The Unfurl images are constructed by two methods.
The foreground/figures were captured with a camera array of 50 cameras around 120∞. To create the animation we used a digital trigger that fired each camera in sequence. These images are currently being interpolated to create a smooth animation of 200 images.
The background is a 3D digital environment built from collected pictures and programmed structures. This will be rendered into 200 images and combined with the photographed images.
These images are then created into a holographic master strip for each colour of the final hologram. A master strip can be though of as a sequence of image windows.
The master strips are then transferred into a large hologram so that the centre of rotation lies on the film plane. When the hologram is replayed it then projects these image windows into space so that the viewer moves through a sequence of perspectives as they walk past.
One way of considering this is an arc of windows floating in space.
This optical structure can occur because a hologram controls the direction as well as image that is projected.
When a viewer is standing in front of the hologram two separate images reach each of their eyes. This gives the stereo or 3D effect.
Production Schedule
Planning began July 2002
Creation of garments April – July 2004
Camera array shoot July 28 and 29
Interpolation and digital construction July – September 2004
Holographic transfer October 2004
Mounting and creating a number of installation plans to suit different environments November and December 2004
Delivery June 2005
Promotion and Publicity March – August 2005
For each hologram a sequence of 200 still images is constructed. The Unfurl holograms will use a two colour process in Blue 492 nm and Yellow 594 nm, which can be mixed for white. Each colour sequence is made into a holographic master. These are then combined with offset geometry into a rainbow hologram. Viewable with a standard spotlight the rainbow is stretched out so the image is composed of the two pure spectral hues.
∑ The Holographics North system uses 200 frames.
This sequence of images not only gives a stereo (3D) view but allows the figure to be subtly animated from frame to frame.
∑ Mr Ruffy’s camera array captures 50 frames
There are two methods we are looked at to create the in-between images
1. Interpolation – via computer software
2. Physical rotation (ie 4 positions recorded with each camera)
∑ For undistorted 3-D the subject should rotate approximately 0.3 degree per frame around a vertical axis, we will be working with exaggerated depth with rotation of 0.6 degrees per frame.
∑ This puts the 50 cameras at 2.4 degree intervals.
∑ A long camera distance is recommended; with the proper lens/cropping to frame the image tightly.
∑ The vertical axis of will lie in the plane of the final hologram film. We will be putting this axis on the rear arm (and umbrella in sruli’s case). The figure then protrudes out from the image plane.
∑ Rendering should be in grayscale, and a resolution of 1200x1600 is preferred for large format work. The image tones should range from white to medium gray, against a black background. Dark gray tones may be lost in the initial transfer steps.
∑ There must also be a white square placed at the top or bottom of each frame, as shown. The sides of this square must be vertical and sharply focused, and it should be 10 or 20mm in size on the screen. This should not rotate or move, and is used for image registration in our system. To the left and right of this square must be all black.
