Collodion Process: Videographic Representation
The hyper-contextual nature of art and art production technologies, when paired, can act as a way to bring deep conceptual awareness to the value of new technologies based on their origins—effectively showcasing the value of both by referencing their unique implementation and historical origins.
This process can be duplicated across other historical art production systems to bring an [audience/awareness] to the art's origins and the modern technologies being implemented.
The project can be minted here.
Outline
The collection comprises a series of professional portrait photographs captured by Dr. Benton Banner between 2015-2020. A generative system was developed to systematically manipulate the portraiture using contemporary post-production technologies, illustrating the historical origins of the medium, wherein each digital layer mirrors a step in the Wet-Collodion production process.
Wet-collodion Photography Process
“Wet-collodion process, also called collodion process, is an early photographic technique invented by Englishman Frederick Scott Archer in 1851. The process involved adding a soluble iodide to a solution of collodion (cellulose nitrate) and coating a glass plate with the mixture.
In the darkroom, the plate was immersed in a solution of silver nitrate to form silver iodide. The plate, still wet, was exposed in-camera. It was then developed by pouring a solution of pyrogallic acid over it and was fixed with a strong solution of sodium thiosulfate, for which potassium cyanide was later substituted. Immediate developing and fixing were necessary because, after the collodion film had dried, it became waterproof and the reagent solutions could not penetrate it.
The process was valued for the level of detail and clarity it allowed. A modification of the process, in which an underexposed negative was backed with black paper or velvet to form what was called an ambrotype, became very popular from the mid-to-late 19th century, as did a version on black lacquered metal known as a tintype, or ferrotype.” SOURCE
Photographs
Breakdown
Process A: Capture
Layer 1: Coat with Collodion [Levels + Grey Scale]
Layer 2: Dip in Silver Nitrate [Radial Blur]
Layer 3: Expose in Camera [Portrait Photograph]
Layer 4: Pour on Developer [Pixel by Pixel Displacement Map]
Layer 5: Fix the Plate with Potassium Cyanide [Grunge System]
Layer 6: Wash & Varnish [Animation System]
Process B: Print
Action 1: Negative Exposure [Generative System Implementation]
Action 2: Mount Print [Output]
Abstraction
These portraits were made abstract through displacement maps and pixel-by-pixel manipulation to direct focus on the photographic process and away from the portrait's subject.
Generative System
The evolution of photographic technologies originated, at least partly, through the Collodion Process. That historical progression influenced the proprietary technology “ntent.io,” designed and developed by .jiwa and Dr. Benton Banner for the generative scaling of the artistic process.
Display
Pieces can be exhibited on a digital display. Below are the outlined acceptable requirements for the exhibition. Pieces should always be displayed in a vertical format unless otherwise noted below.
Minimum Display Dimensions 274.3cm : 487.7cm at 9:16 aspect ratio
