Projecting through water
Practice Research Diary #3
Welcome to another terribly documented experiment!
With a helping hand from the lovely Jake, I set up the projector to see what interesting effects could be achieved when projecting through water. The goal was to create some kind of interactivity, as well as finding a way to interrupt the screen.
Number 1: We projected through a pyrex dish full of water. The image was unrecognizable but I still thought it looked very cool. It wasn’t what I was after though.
Number 2: We placed a piece of glass over the projector with a thin layer of water on it. It was Jake’s wonderful idea to hold the water in by strips of white tack in this makeshift version. Then we projected the image through onto the ceiling- when the water was still, the image looked unchanged. When the water was touched, the image rippled and glimmered: exactly what I was after!
Number 3: The room where I am putting on the installation has sound panels on the ceiling so its not an option for me to project up there. To find a way of doing number 2 without having to look up at the ceiling, We balanced another sheet of glass above the water glass. I then placed the semi transparent cyanotype from Diary #1 as it acts as a rear projection screen and projected the same video. It worked really well (even though the phone died). I think its a cognitively smoother experience. For the installation next week I will put some rear projection film onto glass and omit the cyanotype- they will be hung around the room instead.
Number 4: Before we put everything away I wanted to see what it would look like to project through a glass bowl of water. Jake didn’t think it would be anything special and he was right.
All in all, it was a fun experiment- I absolutely LOVE playing with light and water. My next challenge is working out if there’s space for it in the room I have booked to put on the installation. I will then have to build a more stable, neater structure which will go:
Projector pointing/reflecting up → layer of glass with water on (held in by glazing silicone) → layer of glass with rear projection film
I don’t have a car and I don’t live near uni so I’m not dead sure what I’m going to do, I’ll probably build a table or something. I get very easily overwhelmed by these kind of logistical hurdles but it will probably all be fine.
okay bye!