PERRY KULPER workshop

The Light Warped MOTEL

– Gestural Translation Method

The Three Gorges Dam – Edward Burtynsky

- Workshop by Perry Kulper (October 2009)

“The only impossible thing is to define and delimit the impossible.”

_ CLARK ASHTON SMITH

The process initiated from the very attraction of the Three Gorges Dam, with its intricate elements which accentuate and induce a sense of real chance to play.

We started to observe the ephemeral in the gesture with more deliberate attempt to equate natural gestures with induced human gestures. The collective processes resulted in an array of opportunities to express the gesture without any formal or prejudicial methods. The initial mould revolved around the possibility of natural gestures like the eruption of the lava, water from the dam trying to cool it off to crystallize the molten lava to a state of unpredictable formalizing structure.

The confluence of gestural ideas slowly evolved when we understood the human initiation of a gesture and its subsequent induced and natural gestures within and outside the system. This made us to interpret the site as a giant machine inducing varying gestures with varied levels of intensity and temporariness.

This resulted in a deliberate gesture of moving lights. We moved two light sources like torches to capture a sequence of events through the time-lapse photography. The result helped derive conditions for the possibility of light as a building material. Light is always ephemeral, fuzzy, structured and manipulative.

These qualities lead us to explore techniques on how to warp a light source to create a sequence of translations. The initial idea of puck, press or pull developed into more matured light disintegration methods like warping. We also absorbed a set of natural gestures like the algae plant to produce the required air / CO₂, smoke screen ionisers to absorb light in a more denser form of information. The particle deflector which is clung on to the crane helped capture the warp of the light.

The series of momentary and frozen layering of gestures resulted in a combination of light warps over an electron field generator to generate the necessary gravity or feeling of weight. The resultant spectrum of light warps in a very informal manner to trap the voids and spaces and spatial interlaces like a differential cloud.

The MOTEL evolves through these frenzy holes of influence to entrap, instill, charm and captivate to an amazing rendezvous before night fall.

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PREM BALASUBRAMANIAN_ DHARMESH THAKKER_ MOEEN AFZALKHANI