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

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

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Visual Exploration of the Period Table

This visual representation of the periodic table—made by photographer Mitch Payne, model maker Louis Standard and graphic designer Sean Docherty—is one of the coolest artsci representations I’ve seen recently. As Payne describes the project,

“The modern periodic table, based on atomic number and electron configuration, was created primarily by a Russian chemist, Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev, and a German physicist, Julius Lothar Meyer, both working independently. They both created similar periodic tables only a few months apart in 1869. Mendeleev created the first periodic table based on atomic weight. He observed that many elements had similar properties, and that they occur periodically. Hence, the table’s name.

His periodic law states that the chemical and physical properties of the elements vary in a periodic way with their atomic weights. The modern one states that the properties vary with atomic number, not weight. Elements in Mendeleev’s table were arranged in rows called periods. The columns were called groups. Elements of each group had similar properties. The periodic table can be divided into ten families of elements exhibiting common characteristics. These images try to illustrate those characteristics using abstract photography” 

This project is both art and education. As Payne states, they wanted to do a project that not only allowed for artistic impression, but also to create a body of educational work for a different demographic. The trio aim to add an interesting and creative spin to something that some may perceive as dull an un-inspiring. Once you know the wonder, you can’t go back. For more on Payne’s work, click here. 

- Lee Jones

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