The Royal Photographic Society, 3D Imaging and Holography Group
“Holographic Collaborations”
Ana Maria Nicholson & Rudie Berkhout Collaboration 1989.
Dr Martina Mrongovius 6 September 2014
Martina described the
background to the current exhibition at Jonathan Ross’s Gallery 286 (which I
hope to see on Tuesday) “Holographic Collaborations” with artwork by Ana Maria
Nicholson and Rudie Berkhout. Martina
described the creative backgrounds of both artists – and how their
collaborative work had influenced their individual practice.
The holograms in the
exhibition had been found during a clear-out at the Centre for the Holographic
Arts in New York. Martina works there as
the Director for the Centre – (and also teaches holography in Cologne).
Rudie Berkhout was a prolific
artist, he produced dynamic holographic artwork with his own visual
language. His early transmission
holograms made in the 1970s consisted of Holographic Optical Elements (HOEs) beautifully
composed with great depth and rich colour.
His work was inspired, at that time, by the cosmos and light or photons and
presented incredible dynamic images of light.
In the early 1980s Rudie worked on a sand table and produced artwork
which captured ridges in the sand and included mirror elements – such as the study for ‘New Territories’ 1984 which is
held in the Rudie Berkhout Collections. This
work was made when he moved from Down Town Manhatten to the Catskills area –
his work became more influenced by the land and featured shadowed forms and silhouettes. The work included a mountain path, different
elements and colours and a solid light plane for the sky. Different images were viewable up close and
farther away. The 30x40cm holograms on
Agfa holographic plates had tremendous depth and animation.
Rudie walked into Ana
Maria’s studio and both their lives were transformed. Both artists were interested in the healing processes
and their work was a creative dialogue between the two. They were both interested in the question; “what
is a portrait?” And “what makes a
portrait a work of art?”. Ana Maria made
Rudie’s portrait. She cut holes in a
piece of cardboard and showed his hand bursting through in works in 1987-1989. She
wanted to capture a person’s essence and thought of portraiture as different
from fine art, its own genre. Rudie made
a portrait of Ana Maria. He wanted to
produce images about feelings/dynamics – his portrait of Ana Maria used curved
film – which when straightened out for display showed a warped wobbly
image.
Working together Nicholson
and Berkhout produced holograms which were unpredictable images. They had replaced the diffused light which
illuminated the sitter in pulsed portraits and put cardboard masks on the
object beam – allowing slits and slivers of light to illuminate the face. What they had produced were shells of light –
the viewer peers around behind and seemingly inside the person in the portrait. The artwork traces the face, your eye follows
lines around the face – discovering different parts of the sitter. The holograms were reflection and colour mixed,
a master was produced then copied using red and green pre-swelled plates. This colour mixing was characteristic of Ana
Maria’s work. Rudie didn’t like the
process – his work was meticulous transmission work– hers messy reflection with
chemicals and pre-swelling.
After 1989 the
artist’s work diverges again. Ana Maria
wanted to capture more movement by double-exposing. She was inspired by dancer. The
image suggests the sitter coming alive opening up and then curling up – it
referenced the barrier of surface of skin to the spirit and the plight of
women. ‘Into the Night’ 1994-1995 colour
mixing blue and reds. Her work suggests that there’s more than the physical
body there, a spiritual/light body. After
working with Ana Maria Rudie’s work developed using a system of mixing alcohol
and water and two colour exposures and reflection holography. Rudie died in 2008.
The Holocentrehttp://www.holocenter.org is a non-profit arts organisation. Its core objectives are to provide a place
for artists to be able to make holograms and to preserve its history and holographic
art collection.
In 2009 the holographic equipment was moved from Long Island to Ohio
State University allowing artists to make work there as part of a residency
programme. There are courses which give
artists and educators an introduction to holography, a development course which
allows an artist to explore a concept and a pulse facility for experienced
holographic artists. 30 Artists have been
through the programme.
In 2009 the Holocenter had an exhibition in the Flux Factory – an artist’s
collective with an artist’s run space.
The space for the exhibition was enormous a 3,000 sq foot space on the ground
floor of a bank vault. A giant holography
exhibition was put together by local artists and called “Interference
Cohexistance”. The exhibition explored how
artists deal with the concepts of interference.
Work was provided by the MIT museum such as Betsy Connor’s “Light Rain”,
multimedia work with computer fans. The
show had great press, lots of vistors, a and sponsors allowed the exhibition to
be extended. Phillippe Boissonet’s work
was included ‘Certain Worlds’ which explored the concepts of ‘here/there/where
and place. How we know the position of
things and where we are. Mapping and a
sense of community. To view his work you
have to trigger the lighting to come for another viewer to see the hologram –
you can only trigger light for someone else not yourself. You work with others in the space to see your
hologram.
Eventually the building was sold and the exhibition moved to a new home
on Governor’s Island; a historic house and a summer-time museum. Other buildings on the island which can be
reached via a $2 ferry ride include a Photography Centre and Museum of
Mathematics. Upstairs from the
exhibition there is a screening room, for 3D screenings and workshops. There are 3D courses for drawing technology,
view master workshops, intro to holography workshops and physics of holography
courses. It’s a network of people
sharing techniques and ideas; a vibrant community. The public get a better sense of the medium
of holography when it’s exhibited with hybrid technologies. They can work with ideas of 3D.
The talk was thoroughly inspiring – and I look forward to seeing the
show.
