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In a photo lab far, far away…
Ottawa-based artist Dante Penman takes the traditional process of the photogram, and completely turns it around. With a bit of chemical manipulation, his photograms become chemigrams, a process invented in 1956 by Pierre Cordier. What this entails, is that the developing chemicals are not placed evenly on the photopaper. It is the Abstract Expressionism of photography (a connection which Penman made in his artists’ statement). Instead of just painting with developer, Penman adds three-dimensional botanical aspects, such as fern leaves, to mimic the effects of light from pictures in space.
Chemistry, botany and astronomy all play pivotal roles in his work.
Some of his works are even inspired by Science Fiction, the images alluding to lost worlds and alien wildlife. Not only does the viewer become lost in the multi-layers of leaves, debris and chemicals, but they can also become lost in the image, wondering how the artist put it together. The chemistry in it is like magic, and the images will surely put you under their spell.
If you would like to see these chemigrams for yourself, Dante Penman’s work is currently on display at Bubblicity, 730 Somerset St. W., as part of Chinatown Remixed, until the 18th of June.
-Anna Paluch
(Source: artandsciencejournal.com)
Azuma Makoto: Water and Bonsai
As an artform that can be traced back over two thousand years in Japanese history, the cultivation of the bonsai follows many horticultural and aesthetic properties that are said to evoke unique responses from different viewers. Traditionally grown small enough to fit inside a small pot, the bonsai generally symbolizes “the aesthetic qualities found in nature through balance, simplicity, and harmony,” with balance being a key element of the bonsai’s aesthetic qualities.
In this installation, Water and Bonsai, self-proclaimed “botanical artist” Azuma Makoto submerges what appears to be a small bonsai tree in an aquarium filled with water. Upon further inspection, however, we learn that this bonsai is actually a piece of deadwood adorned with moss. The moss is kept alive with the aid of a filtration system and LED lights.
As Makoto describes the work,
“Bonsai transforms its shape through [the] ages [and] now finds a life in water and continues to be alive. We can, continuously, admire its new appearance with plants from land and water within clear water.”
In this sense, Water and Bonsai seeks to redefine the tradition of the bonsai by exposing it to a new natural element: the water. The bonsai’s shifting appearance in the water further demonstrates its ability to achieve aesthetic balance and harmony by being “one with the water.” As a result, Makoto exposes us to a sort of miniaturized botanical ecosystem that showcases the beauty and complexity of the plant world.
Azuma Makoto’s practice as a botanical artist involves the staging and creation of “botanical sculptures” and large scale art installations. For more information about Makoto’s other projects, visit his website here.
(Source: artandsciencejournal.com)
![Daniel Freytag
Daniel Freytag is a UK-based photographer whose work explores the hidden beauty of everyday objects by isolating them from their contexts.
In this series titled Fade, Freytag recalls the long-standing tradition of botanical documentation; these photographs, however, offer a new contemporary aesthetic layer that “[transforms] the ordinary into extraordinary.” Freytag’s projects look to draw together different art practices – photography and design – but to also avoid those conventions of ornamentation so characteristic of today’s photography. This, he writes, gives “depth to the unexpected beauty of the everyday. And with this comes an intimacy in its realness: No artifice, no set-up, purely the ability to re-engage the viewer with the ‘newness’ of the normal, and perhaps, at times, render it almost surreal.”
See more of Freytag’s work at his website here, and find some prints for sale here.
- Erin Saunders](http://25.media.tumblr.com/0b1eb73f5b7068651818fe8f0034dbd8/tumblr_mfe2tl09PJ1rra1j7o1_500.jpg "Daniel Freytag
Daniel Freytag is a UK-based photographer whose work explores the hidden beauty of everyday objects by isolating them from their contexts.
In this series titled Fade, Freytag recalls the long-standing tradition of botanical documentation; these photographs, however, offer a new contemporary aesthetic layer that “[transforms] the ordinary into extraordinary.” Freytag’s projects look to draw together different art practices – photography and design – but to also avoid those conventions of ornamentation so characteristic of today’s photography. This, he writes, gives “depth to the unexpected beauty of the everyday. And with this comes an intimacy in its realness: No artifice, no set-up, purely the ability to re-engage the viewer with the ‘newness’ of the normal, and perhaps, at times, render it almost surreal.”
See more of Freytag’s work at his website here, and find some prints for sale here.
- Erin Saunders")
![Daniel Freytag
Daniel Freytag is a UK-based photographer whose work explores the hidden beauty of everyday objects by isolating them from their contexts.
In this series titled Fade, Freytag recalls the long-standing tradition of botanical documentation; these photographs, however, offer a new contemporary aesthetic layer that “[transforms] the ordinary into extraordinary.” Freytag’s projects look to draw together different art practices – photography and design – but to also avoid those conventions of ornamentation so characteristic of today’s photography. This, he writes, gives “depth to the unexpected beauty of the everyday. And with this comes an intimacy in its realness: No artifice, no set-up, purely the ability to re-engage the viewer with the ‘newness’ of the normal, and perhaps, at times, render it almost surreal.”
See more of Freytag’s work at his website here, and find some prints for sale here.
- Erin Saunders](http://24.media.tumblr.com/15300a218ddf9275844a1193a63a034c/tumblr_mfe2tl09PJ1rra1j7o2_500.jpg "Daniel Freytag
Daniel Freytag is a UK-based photographer whose work explores the hidden beauty of everyday objects by isolating them from their contexts.
In this series titled Fade, Freytag recalls the long-standing tradition of botanical documentation; these photographs, however, offer a new contemporary aesthetic layer that “[transforms] the ordinary into extraordinary.” Freytag’s projects look to draw together different art practices – photography and design – but to also avoid those conventions of ornamentation so characteristic of today’s photography. This, he writes, gives “depth to the unexpected beauty of the everyday. And with this comes an intimacy in its realness: No artifice, no set-up, purely the ability to re-engage the viewer with the ‘newness’ of the normal, and perhaps, at times, render it almost surreal.”
See more of Freytag’s work at his website here, and find some prints for sale here.
- Erin Saunders")
![Daniel Freytag
Daniel Freytag is a UK-based photographer whose work explores the hidden beauty of everyday objects by isolating them from their contexts.
In this series titled Fade, Freytag recalls the long-standing tradition of botanical documentation; these photographs, however, offer a new contemporary aesthetic layer that “[transforms] the ordinary into extraordinary.” Freytag’s projects look to draw together different art practices – photography and design – but to also avoid those conventions of ornamentation so characteristic of today’s photography. This, he writes, gives “depth to the unexpected beauty of the everyday. And with this comes an intimacy in its realness: No artifice, no set-up, purely the ability to re-engage the viewer with the ‘newness’ of the normal, and perhaps, at times, render it almost surreal.”
See more of Freytag’s work at his website here, and find some prints for sale here.
- Erin Saunders](http://24.media.tumblr.com/b5ec4e61a379a12c56512eb6bc65ad82/tumblr_mfe2tl09PJ1rra1j7o3_500.jpg "Daniel Freytag
Daniel Freytag is a UK-based photographer whose work explores the hidden beauty of everyday objects by isolating them from their contexts.
In this series titled Fade, Freytag recalls the long-standing tradition of botanical documentation; these photographs, however, offer a new contemporary aesthetic layer that “[transforms] the ordinary into extraordinary.” Freytag’s projects look to draw together different art practices – photography and design – but to also avoid those conventions of ornamentation so characteristic of today’s photography. This, he writes, gives “depth to the unexpected beauty of the everyday. And with this comes an intimacy in its realness: No artifice, no set-up, purely the ability to re-engage the viewer with the ‘newness’ of the normal, and perhaps, at times, render it almost surreal.”
See more of Freytag’s work at his website here, and find some prints for sale here.
- Erin Saunders")
Daniel Freytag
Daniel Freytag is a UK-based photographer whose work explores the hidden beauty of everyday objects by isolating them from their contexts.
In this series titled Fade, Freytag recalls the long-standing tradition of botanical documentation; these photographs, however, offer a new contemporary aesthetic layer that “[transforms] the ordinary into extraordinary.” Freytag’s projects look to draw together different art practices – photography and design – but to also avoid those conventions of ornamentation so characteristic of today’s photography. This, he writes, gives “depth to the unexpected beauty of the everyday. And with this comes an intimacy in its realness: No artifice, no set-up, purely the ability to re-engage the viewer with the ‘newness’ of the normal, and perhaps, at times, render it almost surreal.”
See more of Freytag’s work at his website here, and find some prints for sale here.
(Source: artandsciencejournal.com)
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