Pandemic Obscura
April 7, 2020 - April 23, 2020
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic when my classes entered the virtual realm, I found solace in transforming various rooms in my house into camera obscuras. The project lasted for the remaining days of the semester.
Often spending hours observing the projections, I gained a greater appreciation for the subtle shifts in light and shadow, the movement of birds entering and exiting the frame, clouds sweeping in and out of view, tree branches moving in the wind, an occasional vehicle drive by, a solitary jogger and the colors of spring making their appearance.
Accompanying the images are thoughts of my own and thoughts of others, the weather report, the location of my cat, Harriet Bankston Twitty III, and notes on flora and fauna I observed that day. During this project I started thinking more about how being isolated and away from others can, for many of us, be an unsettling experience. The projections presented a way to find comfort in the familiar, while presenting surprises and a sense of wonderment.
Main Street Arts: Revisiting the Studio: Scott McMahon (ep 6)
home. day 1. camera obscura projection. view from bedroom. weather conditions: mostly sunny, 16 mph winds out of the south. flora and fauna: some visible, some heard.
home. day 2. camera obscura projection. view from bedroom (room with a view). weather conditions: cloudy, 13mph winds from north/northwest. flora and fauna: some visible, some heard.
home. day 3. camera obscura projection. view from bedroom (room with a view). 9:15AM. weather conditions: partly sunny, 2mph winds from east, 39 degrees, 52% humidity. flora and fauna: some visible, some audible. 38.940150 -92.309750
home. day 4. camera obscura projection. view from bedroom (room with a view). 3.22.20, 3:00PM. weather conditions: rain/light rain, 9mph winds from east/southeast, 37 degrees, 100% humidity. flora and fauna: some visible, some audible (owl).
home. day 5. camera obscura projection (righted). view from bedroom (room with a view). 3.23.20. around 11:00AM. weather conditions: sunny/partly sunny, 8mph winds from east, 43 degrees, 72% humidity. flora and fauna: some visible, some audible. Addendum to previous posts: cat present (harriet bankston twitty III).
home. day 6(a). camera obscura projection. view from bedroom (room with a view). 3.24.20. two for one tuesday! (i couldn't decide). time: 2:00PM. weather conditions: rain, 11mph winds from northeast, 46 degrees, 100% humidity. flora and fauna: some visible, some audible. in attendance: harriet bankston twitty III & scott.
home. day 6(b). camera obscura projection. view from bedroom (room with a view). 3.24.20. two for one tuesday! (i couldn't decide). time: 2:00PM. weather conditions: rain, 11mph winds from northeast, 46 degrees, 100% humidity. flora and fauna: some visible, some audible. in attendance: harriet bankston twitty III & scott.
home. day 7. camera obscura projection. view from bedroom (room with a view). 3.25.20. thoughts: with my uncle dan. 6:15PM. weather conditions: partly sunny/sunny, you decide. 11mph winds from the southeast, 61 degrees, 69% humidity. flora and fauna: some visible, some audible. in attendance: harriet bankston twitty III (cat) and scott (me).
home. day 8 (week 2). camera obscura projection. view from upstairs bathroom-shower (looking 27 degrees NE). date: 3.26.20. thoughts: with you...yes, you...not in the shower, that's weird...just thinking of you when none of us are in the shower, just nice, warm thoughts..fully clothed. time: 1:15PM. weather conditions: partly sunny, 7mph winds from north/northeast. 68 degrees, 67% humidity. flora and fauna: some visible, some audible. harriet bankston twitty III was not in attendance as she prefers the previous camera obscura location. bonus image (b-side to follow).
home. day 9 (week 2). camera obscura projection. view from upstairs bathroom (looking 27 degrees NE). date: 3.27.20. thoughts: from Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass" “I accept Time absolutely. It alone is without flaw, It alone rounds and completes all, That mystic baffling wonder.” time: around 2:20PM. weather conditions: cloudy/partly cloudy with intermittent sun, 6mph winds from the east. 70 something degrees, 68% humidity. flora and fauna: some visible (fox), some audible (birds). harriet bankston twitty (cat) not present, she still prefers the previous camera obscura location.
home. day 10 (week 2). camera obscura projection, view from bedroom (room with a view). clouds moving rapidly. date: 3.28.20. thoughts: leonard cohen: "there's a crack in everything. that's how the light gets in." weather conditions: yup. 23mph winds from SW, 75 degrees. flora and fauna: some visible, some audible. harriet bankston twitty III (hbt3) was not present during this exposure.
home. day 11 (week 2). camera obscura projection, view from bedroom (room with view). clouds moving rapidly. date: 3.29.20, time:3:46PM. thoughts: “You need the dark in order to show the light.”– Bob Ross weather conditions: sunny, 12mph winds from the west, 65 degrees. flora and fauna: some audible, some visible. harriet bankston twitty III (hbt3-cat), present.
home. day 12 (week 2). camera obscura projection, view from upstairs room. date: 3.30.20. time: 3:00PMish. thoughts: some. weather conditions: partly sunny/cloudy 8mph winds from the northeast, 66 degrees. flora and fauna: some visible, some audible. hariett bankston twitty III (hbt3-cat) not in attendance.
home. day 13. camera obscura projection, view from bedroom (room with a view). multiple pinhole apertures. date 3.31.20. time: 10:00AM. thoughts: poem below. weather conditions: sunny, 63 degrees, winds from NNW. flora and fauna: some visible, some audible. harriet bankston twitty III (hbt3-cat) in attendance. Within We Are All Full of Light By Stuart Kestenbaum Imagine the wonderment of the people who built the first camera obscura and discovered that a stream of light can tell us so much, how one tiny hole in the wall can let in the wavelengths that draw a perfect picture. It’s upside down, which shakes us up, but shows us that something is watching us too, inscribing each detail, steeple and leaf, hill and cloud, making every color possible And this morning when I go outside and stare into the spring light being absorbed and bouncing off the gray stone walk and new dandelions, I become my own darkened room letting the day in to write its history on the back wall of my mind. Light within, light without, I close my eyes to see what I have loved.
home. day 14. camera obscura projection, view from downstairs bathroom. date: 4.1.20. time: noonish. thoughts: "To some extent I happily don't know what I'm doing. I feel that it's an artist's responsibility to trust that." - David Byrne weather conditions: 61 degrees, 11mph winds from ESE. flora and fauna: some visible, some audible. harriet bankston twitty III (hbt3-cat) was outside. other details: ups truck drove by and monthly tornado alarm sounded (this is only a test).
home. day 15. camera obscura projection, view from downstairs bedroom. date: 4.2.20. time 11:00AM. thoughts: "I talk to myself and look at the trees, blessedly neutral. So much easier than facing people, than having to look happy, invulnerable, clever. " - Sylvia Plath. weather conditions: 68 degrees, 13mph winds from SE, flora and fauna: some visible, some audible. harriet bankston twitty III (hbt3-cat) in an undisclosed location.
home. day 16. camera obscura projection, view from bedroom (room with a view). date: 4.3.20. time: 11:00AM. thoughts: with my uncle dan and family, he is home. weather conditions: sunny/partly sunny 8mph winds from WNW. flora and fauna: some visible, some audible. harriet bankston twitty III (hbt3-cat) in attendance.
*day 17 removed* home. day 18. camera obscura projection. downstairs room. date: 4.5.20. time: 4:15pm. thoughts: some. weather conditions: cloudy, 55 degrees, 6mph winds from east/southeast. flora and fauna: some visible, some audible. harriet bankston twitty III (hbt3) alsleep upstairs.
home. day 19. camera obscura projection. view from bedroom, projection on bed. date: 4.6.20. time: 4:00pm. thoughts: "thinking is hard. not thinking is harder." - Hans Aarsman. weather conditions: cloudy with breaks of sun, 71 degrees, 11 mph winds from the south. flora and fauna: some visible, some audible (owl). harriet bankston twitty III (hbt3) still outdoors.
home. day 20. camera obscura projection. 4.7.20. time 3:30pm. weather conditions: 70 something degrees, 10mph winds from the WSW. flora and fauna: some visible, some audible. harriet bankston twitty III (hbt3) sleeping on deck. thoughts: DADA: Kurt Schwitters......you're welcome. “To paint after nature is to transfer three-dimensional corporeality to a two-dimensional surface. This you can do if you are in good health and not colorblind. Oil paint, canvas, and brush are material and tools. It is possible by expedient distribution of oil paint on canvas to copy natural impressions; under favorable conditions you can do it so accurately that the picture cannot be distinguished from the model. You start, let us say, with a white canvas primed for oil painting and sketch in with charcoal the most discernible lines of the natural form you have chosen. Only the first line may be drawn more or less arbitrarily, all the others must form with the first the angle prescribed by the natural model. By constant comparison of the sketch with the model, the lines can be so adjusted that the lines of the sketch will correspond to those of the model. Lines are now drawn by feeling, the accuracy of the feeling is checked and measured by comparison of the estimated angle of the line with the perpendicular in nature and in the sketch. Then, according to the apparent proportions between the parts of the model, you sketch in the proportions between parts on the canvas, preferably by means of broken lines delimiting these parts. The size of the first part is arbitrary, unless your plan is to represent a part, such as the head, in 'life size.' In that case you measure with a compass an imaginary line running parallel to a plane on the natural object conceived as a plane on the picture, and use this measurement in representing the first part. You adjust all the remaining parts to the first through feeling, according to the corresponding parts of the model, and check your feeling by measurement; to do this, you place the picture so far away form you that the first part appears as large in the painting as the model, and then you compare. In order to check a given proportion, you hold out the handle of your paintbrush at arm's length towards this proportion in such a way that the end of the thumbnail on the handle coincides with the other end of the proportion. If then you hold the paintbrush out towards the picture, again at arm's length, you can, by the measurement thus obtained, determine with photographic accuracy whether your feeling has deceived you. If the sketch is correct, you fill in the parts of the picture with color, according to nature. The most expedient method is to begin with a clearly recognizable color of large area, perhaps with a somewhat broken blue. You estimate the degree of matness and break the luminosity with a complimentary color, ultramarine, for example, with light ochre. By addition of white you can make the color light, by addition of black dark. All this can be learned. The best way of checking for accuracy is to place the picture directly beside the projected picture surface in nature, return to your old place and compare the color in your picture with the natural color. By breaking those tones that are too bright and adding those that are still lacking, you will achieve a color tonality as close as possible to that in nature. If one tone is correct, you can put the picture back in its place and adjust the other colors to the first by feeling. You can check your feeling by comparing every tone directly with nature, after setting the picture back beside the model. If you have patience and adjust all large and small lines, all forms and color tones according to nature, you will have an exact reproduction of nature. This can be learned. This can be taught. And in addition, you can avoid making too many mistakes in 'feeling' by studying nature itself through anatomy and perspective and your medium through color theory. That is academy.” ― Kurt Schwitters, The Dada Painters and Poets: An Anthology
home. day 21. camera obscura projection. date: 4.8.20. time: 4:15pm. weather conditions: 88 degrees, 18mph winds from the NW. flora and fauna: some visible, some audible. harriet bankston twitty III (hbt3) in an undisclosed location. thoughts: cats hear us call, and they recognize our voice. when they don't come, it's because they're ignoring us.
home. day 22. camera obscura projection. view from bedroom (room with a view). date: 4.9.20. time 9:30am. weather: sunny/partly sunny, 49 degrees, 15mph winds from the nnw. thoughts: with eric and nancy. flora and fauna: some visible, some audible. harriet bankston twitty III (hbt3) present.
home. day 23. multiple pinhole projection of the sun - for eric renner. thoughts: book inscription from eric: "scott - for travels into the ether - eric."
home. day 24(a). a challenging day. camera obscura projection. view from bedroom (summoning spirit). date: 4.11.20. time: sometime in the afternoon between 4:00pm and 5:00pm. 30 second exposure. weather conditions: 62 degrees, cloudy with the chance of more clouds and other clouds following 9mph winds from sse. thoughts: too many to share, but here's something from Wendell Berry: “Nobody can discover the world for somebody else. Only when we discover it for ourselves does it become common ground and a common bond and we cease to be alone.” – Wendell Berry, A Place on Earth. flora and fauna: some visible, some audible. harriet bankston twitty III (hbt3-cat) in attendance and in slumber. goodnight.
home. day 24(b). a challenging day. camera obscura projection. view from bedroom (summoning spirit). date: 4.11.20. time: sometime in the afternoon between 4:00pm and 5:00pm. 30 second exposure. weather conditions: 62 degrees, cloudy with the chance of more clouds and other clouds following 9mph winds from sse. thoughts: too many to share, but here's something from Wendell Berry: “Nobody can discover the world for somebody else. Only when we discover it for ourselves does it become common ground and a common bond and we cease to be alone.” – Wendell Berry, A Place on Earth flora and fauna: some visible, some audible. harriet bankston twitty III (hbt3-cat) in attendance and in slumber. goodnight.
*day 25 removed* home. day 26 (both a & b side). camera obscura. view from downstairs room. date 4.13.20. time: 10:30am. weather conditions: sunny/partly sunny, 39 degrees, 15mph winds from wnw. thoughts: "...for when you pass into the small dark chamber you have entered the insides of a camera, a camera in which you are the film, or more precisely, your memory is." from: the secrets of the camera obscura by david knowles. flora and fauna: some visible, some audible. harriet bankston twitty III (hbt3-cat) following the sun throughout the house.
*day 25 removed* home. day 26 (both a & b side). camera obscura. view from downstairs room. date 4.13.20. time: 10:30am. weather conditions: sunny/partly sunny, 39 degrees, 15mph winds from wnw. thoughts: "...for when you pass into the small dark chamber you have entered the insides of a camera, a camera in which you are the film, or more precisely, your memory is." from: the secrets of the camera obscura by david knowles. flora and fauna: some visible, some audible. harriet bankston twitty III (hbt3-cat) following the sun throughout the house.
home. day 27. camera obscura projection (view from upstairs bathroom). date: 4.14.20. time 3:00ishpmish. weather conditions: sunnyishcloudyish, mostly sunnyish, 50 degreesish, 5mph winds from wswish. thoughts (deep thoughts by jack handey): "As the light changed from red to green to yellow and back to red again, I sat there thinking about life. Was it nothing more than a bunch of honking and yelling? sometimes it seemed that way." flora and fauna: some visible, some audible. harriet bankston twitty III (hbt3-cat) in bedroom (original camera obscura location).
home. day 28. camera obscura projection (view from upstairs bathroom). date: 4.15.20. time: high noon. weather conditions: sunny, 48 degrees, 3mph winds from the north. thoughts: "why are all the artists dead-set on distorting? It seems to be a reaction against photography, but I'm not sure." - Marcel Duchamp. flora and fauna: some visible, some audible. bonus: ups truck drove through the projection above my sink and a jogger made two laps around the cul de sac, with gusto! harriet bankston twitty III (hbt3-cat) up to her old tricks, somewhere in the house.
home. day 29. camera obscura projection (view from bedroom-closet). date 4.16.20. time 2:45pm. weather conditions: mostly cloudy, 49 degrees, 18mph winds from the east/northeast. thoughts: "It is better to have your head in the clouds, and know where you are... than to breathe the clearer atmosphere below them, and think that you are in paradise." -Henry David Thoreau. flora and fauna: some visible, some audible. harriet bankston twitty III (hbt3-cat) absorbing the projected light while sleeping.
home. day 30. camera obscura projection (righted), view from downstairs room. date: 4.17.20. time: 2:00pm. weather conditions: cloudy, 41 degrees, 10 mph winds from the northwest. thoughts: "The room in which I found myself was very large and lofty. The windows were long, narrow, and pointed, and at so vast a distance from the black oaken floor as to be altogether inaccessible from within. Feeble gleams of encrimsoned light made their way through the trellised panes, and served to render sufficiently distinct the more prominent objects around; the eye, however, struggled in vain to reach the remoter angles of the chamber..." -Edgar Allan Poe from The Fall of the House of Usher. 1839. flora and fauna: some visible, some audible. harriet bankston twitty III (hbt3-cat) asleep on couch.
home. day 31. camera obscura projection, view from bedroom. date: 4.18.20. time: 5:00pm. weather conditions: sunny, 62 degrees, 6mph winds from the south/southeast. flora and fauna: some visible, some audible. harriet bankston twitty III (hbt3-cat) somewhere downstairs. thoughts: Aperture by Stuart Kestenbaum To let the light in is to let the world in, to have it draw itself on our eyes everyday so that we might see what's there: the trees that rise and fall, the horizon that separates one thing from another, a whole heaving planet filled with those things we have made of ourselves and our shadows as if it's possible to separate the one from the other in this bath of light that is being absorbed and reflected by our hearts.
home. day 32. camera obscura projection, view from downstairs bathroom. date: 4.19.20. time: 2:20pm. weather conditions: sunny! 65 degrees, 8mph winds from the north/north east. thoughts: "we thought about working in the yard, but drank margaritas instead." flora and fauna: some visible, some audible. harriet bankston twitty III (hbt3) still asleep on couch.
home. day 33. camera obscura projection, view from upstairs room. date: 4:20.20. time: 11:00am. weather conditions: sunny with mashed potato clouds. 62 degrees, 12mph winds from the west/southwest. thoughts: "There is no such thing as an empty space or an empty time. There is always something to see, something to hear. In fact, try as we may to make a silence, we cannot." - john cage. flora and fauna: some visible, some audible. harriet bankston twitty III (hbt3) enjoying the great outdoors.
home. day 34. camera obscura projection. view from beth's meditation room. date: 4.21.20. time 1:26pm. weather conditions: sunny, 65 degrees, 10 mph winds from the northwest. thoughts: "Whenever you look at light, basically it's just air. It has no tactileness to it. It's totally without density." -Robert Irwin. flora and fauna: some visible, some audible. harriet bankston twitty III (hbt3) in her private bunker.
home. day 35. camera obscura projection. view from upstairs bathroom. date: 4.22.20 (earth day). time 5:16pm. weather conditions: cloudy, light rain, 61 degrees, 10mph winds from the south/southeast. thoughts: “…innocence of eye has a quality of its own. It means to see as a child sees, with freshness and acknowledgment of the wonder; it also means to see as an adult sees who has gone full circle and once again sees as a child – with freshness and an even deeper sense of wonder.” – Minor White. flora and fauna: some visible, some audible. harriet bankston twitty III (hbt3) asleep downstairs with one eye open.
home. day 36. camera obscura projection. view from bedroom. date 4.23.20. time: 3:03pm. weather conditions: partly sunny, 68 degrees, 4mph winds from the north/northwest. thoughts: "This wonderful elixir of light is the thing that actually connects the immaterial with the material-that connects the cosmic to the plain everyday existence that we try to live in." -James Turrell. flora and fauna: some visible, some audible. harriet bankston twitty III (hbt3) would have looked good curled up in the clouds, but decided to go elsewhere. thanks for tuning in.