Draconaei’s Blog

Once again I’ve been blessed with the good fortune to travel, this time to the countries of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Taiwan.  It was an incredible experience full of extremes, viewing the ruined temples of Angkor Wat one day, and the torture and detainment center of the Khmer Rouge regime the next.  Here I would like to share some of the panoramas I stitched together from the trip (and don’t worry, more photographs from the journey will follow!)

We arrived at the entrance to Angkor Wat, Cambodia at sunrise.  The ruins are silhouetted in the distance behind the meditation pond.

Inside the temples at Angkor Wat, this is the centermost structure.  Be sure to notice the people at the base to give a sense of scale.  The enormity, and the consistent detail, is beyond impressive.

An interior courtyard inside the Angkor Wat temples.  The detail in the stonework is still incredible, even after the countless years of torrential downpours experienced every day during the wet seasons of the year.

Approaching the entrance to the ruins of Angkor Thom.  Click to view the larger version - you can see the gigantic faces carved into the stone of the tower’s peaks.

There are a number of technical problems with this panorama - some digital junk at the base, focus changing on the right side, Kathy’s head morphing into a cloud.  Those aside, I’m still partial to it.  Here we’re looking out from Angkor Thom towards the woods and the Elephant Terrace.

Inside the temple at Ta Prohm, where the trees have completely overgrown the temple, bearing onto the roof and reaching their roots through the stone.

Another tree towering over the ruins of Ta Prohm Temple.  A feat of nature, and of humankind’s creation.

Leaving Ta Prohm.  As evidenced, I simply could not get enough photographs of the trees merged into the stonework.

Looking out to the horizon of the northern coast of Taiwan, in Guanyinshan National Park.  The natural rock formations are stunning, having been eroded into their present-day shapes by the forces of wind and water.

My final semester assignment for “Borrowing Light” was to pick a location somewhere on north campus, and build an intervention/installation that reflected the already existing light quality in that space.

My site was a pathway located between two parking lots: the blue lot behind the Space Research Building, and the connecting orange lot.  The path is rough concrete and it weaves through the woods.  On a bright, sunny day, the light passes through the foliage in a specked pattern on the path- or in the winter, the sun casts long shadows from the bare branches.  At night, a row of lamps arranged along the path lights the way.  I chose this as a potential site because it’s an often used path, but removed from any sculptural works found in the more central and populated region of campus.

There is already a specific light quality in the space, which I could choose to emphasize or draw attention to.  I suspect the light is almost never appreciated, however, because the path is most often used by people arriving for work in the morning or leaving work at day’s end.

Placing a canopy above the path catches the shadows of the trees and branches, creating a “shadow screen” overhead.  My hope was for the installation to draw attention to these shadows, which otherwise generally go unnoticed.

In addition to creating a shadow-screen, I wanted to both convey and toy with the quality of light as it shines through and between leaves in a natural forest canopy.  To achieve this, I laser cut a series of acrylic leaves, wove them into a thin net, and suspended them a few inches above the cloth.  Light passing through these leaves created familiar and yet surreal shadows spaced among the natural branch shadows.  Additionally, the canopy was supported by a branch-like metal structure sewed into the fabric, which then in turn was fastened to four surrounding tree trunks.  In this way, the structure was a continuation of the trees reaching out over the path.

Below are stitched photographs showing the canopy-as-shadow-screen.  Enjoy!

Okay, so it’s not trippy like the others- but at least it’s seasonal!

And a close-up of the headless horseman, carved by yours truly:
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ooooOOOOOooOoooooOOOOOOooooooOooooo… Halloween is nearly here!

One of my first disorienting stitches:

(click for larger image)

*edit*  It has been suggested I mention that yes, I did take this picture myself!  Now, how might I have done that?…