Berlin Sky Variation

Berlin - Sky Variation from Richard Hunter on Vimeo.

Berlin Sky Variation is a final piece that draws together the outcomes and learning from my first experiments. It contains a combination of masking, time lapse photography, sliced/masked sky (used from ‘side window slice) and time warping. Starting with a ‘GoPro’ time-lapse as a base, I removed the varying (though the evening) sky and colour treated the footage to concentrate the light sources. This created a somewhat Edward Hopper-esque feel of loneliness in the foreground in direct contrast to the busy ‘lives’ represented by flashing windows that is reminiscent of Mona Hatoum’s light based work. The sky is further manipulated from its first use, in that it is repeated, rotated, layered and time warped to create a cubist-like texture inspired by the collage work of previously discussed artists like Alesi and Caccavale. The audio was chosen as it gradually builds over the duration of the piece and includes electronic synthetic elements that align with the slicing and iteration of the sky and window lights.

The architectonic themes continue whilst the application of contrast and threshold is more subtly applied along the skyline. Through production, certain artefacts appeared giving slight glitches in places. These were repeated to subtly give a nod towards my earlier ‘Threshold’ work and provide visual punctuation throughout the sequence.

I am very pleased with the result of this work as I feel it captures the level of quality and combination of elements in a cohesive outcome.  In terms of performance or exhibited use I can picture a high level of impact when projected on a large scale. The collage of sky elements may be worth considering in isolation or as a lead up to the full piece in a sequenced performance.