Building an Interactive Projection Rig
Practise Research Diary #4
In my last post, I talked you through some of my experiments with projecting through/onto water. Although it was terribly documented, writing that post helped to me to organize, consolidate and evaluate my ideas and their degrees of success. After writing that post, I realised I wanted to commit to the idea of projecting through a thin layer of water and onto a rear projection screen (not a cyanotype like in the video- I thought there would be too much going on and it wouldn’t have fit with the film I had made). This post will talk through my process of building the rig that made that idea possible. I received invaluable help from Jake Reynolds. I have never really built anything from scratch before and he helped me to break down what I wanted to do, and he also showed me how to use a saw and stuff. Thanks Jake <3.
I started by drawing the basic idea of a rig that would enable my idea:
Then we got the projector and some tracing paper out, and measured how big a 16:9 projected screen would be at the highest level I wanted the physical screen to sit, and what level I wanted people to have their hands. I made the screen frame a hair smaller as I wanted the projection to fill the frame and I knew that I could raise the projector to get a smaller image if I needed. This was important as I would be using a different projector at the uni and needed to account for the potential difference in projection size.
Jake and I redrew the diagram with measurements and headed down to Wickes to buy the cheapest wood we could get our hands on.
We set about cutting the wood down to size and nailing it together (I didn’t get a picture of the nailing so you will have to accept my artistic mime interpretation of building). A massive thanks to my Mum, Sophie D’Souza, for lending me her tools.
Once the basic structure was built, we tested out the projection screen for size.
The next day, Mum very kindly cut the sheet of glass (which I got from a picture frame) down to size. I then added some more wood to hold in the glass for belt and braces health and safety.
I piped a couple of rows of glazing silicone round the edge of the glass to hold in the water.
While it was drying, I sanded and painted the structure black so it would center the viewers focus on the screen.
The next day, I went out to buy some wheels to attach as well as a lighter mirror for projecting with so I could get it all to Goldsmiths more easily (its an hour and 15 minute journey with 2 changes than involve stairs and a 10 minute walk either side booooo).
And finally it was time to test it out! It worked with my film, but I then also decided to try it out with an abandoned video poem (a very early version of this project), shown below. I realized it was much more effective with recognizable images and/or straight lines than with the abstract water images of the film I was making this for. So I decided to add the text of my poem onto the film in advance of the final installation.
I am an advocate for financial transparency- I think it can be greatly helpful to know how people are able to do the things they do, and how much people lose or make doing them. So if its interesting for anyone to know, I spent roughly £40 on wood, £10 on paint, £7 on glazing silicone and £20 on wheels with breaks (I really didn’t want to spend that much on wheels but I had to get ones with brakes for health and safety). My Mum already had tracing paper, nails and tools, and I got the glass from a old frame I found. I am very lucky to be living at home and to have my degree funded which means I can have more freedom with buying things for my art, and more time to make the art. Once my Masters finishes I will begin renting again and will start applying for funding opportunities so I can continue experimenting. If you know of any opportunities, ping me a message!
That’s all for this post- no experiments or reflections really, just good old fashioned building! I very much enjoyed myself making this. I less so enjoyed getting it to and from uni, especially because I have had terrible stomach cramps all week perhaps from nerves- another huge thank you to Jake for helping with transporting the thing, and for looking after me in my illness. Maybe I can try to build a collapsible rig for the future. Crucially, it worked fabulously for the install, which I will post about very soon. No idea what I’m going to do with it now, if anyone has a spare room and wants a really dysfunctional shelving unit, do let me know.
Okay bye!