Powers of ten
In Power of ten, I outlined a situation around the activity of drawing. (Powers of ten) Execute one thousand 10” x 10” drawings. Use only ten colors maximum. Invite ten friends to choose ten drawings each. Display one hundred drawings. (Try to record thinking). The situation originally had a time element, to complete the one thousand drawings within ten days, which I later amended.
The Eames movie Powers of Ten inspired the project. Powers of Ten presented a macroscopic and microscopic view of the known world. Beginning with an ordinary scene of a couple having a picnic at a park, a square shaped view panned out. The frame moved farther and farther out into space at metric increments multiplied by ten. Once reaching the end of the known expanse of the cosmos, the view panned back in again to the familiar couple. After a brief pause with the couple at the park, the frame then zoomed in at negative metric increments multiplied by ten, presenting at microscopic view.
The narration of the short movie encouraged the audience to consider their experience an imaginative trace though the presented view. Each square frame for a calculation represented a further “step” for the viewer. As a presentation of objective information, Powers of ten was imaginative in its use of dialogue, sound effects and animation combined with photographic images. I was inspired both by the placement of the audience, the information itself, and the quirky quality of the dated movie. For me, the movie acted as an entertaining reminder that what I know was completely overshadowed by the unknown.
For this work, I metaphorically projected the square frame from the movie towards my thinking. The goal of my Powers of ten was to become completely absorbed in creation of drawings in a condensed amount of time. The project represented that flow of ideas and activity. The drawn objects represented the varied recording ranging from concentrated contemplation and distracted doodling. The drawings framed what I intended as a rich, complex, imaginative although highly personal view. Like the Eames movie the pieces of paper framed areas of “relative activity and inactivity”.
The Eames movie Powers of Ten inspired the project. Powers of Ten presented a macroscopic and microscopic view of the known world. Beginning with an ordinary scene of a couple having a picnic at a park, a square shaped view panned out. The frame moved farther and farther out into space at metric increments multiplied by ten. Once reaching the end of the known expanse of the cosmos, the view panned back in again to the familiar couple. After a brief pause with the couple at the park, the frame then zoomed in at negative metric increments multiplied by ten, presenting at microscopic view.
The narration of the short movie encouraged the audience to consider their experience an imaginative trace though the presented view. Each square frame for a calculation represented a further “step” for the viewer. As a presentation of objective information, Powers of ten was imaginative in its use of dialogue, sound effects and animation combined with photographic images. I was inspired both by the placement of the audience, the information itself, and the quirky quality of the dated movie. For me, the movie acted as an entertaining reminder that what I know was completely overshadowed by the unknown.
For this work, I metaphorically projected the square frame from the movie towards my thinking. The goal of my Powers of ten was to become completely absorbed in creation of drawings in a condensed amount of time. The project represented that flow of ideas and activity. The drawn objects represented the varied recording ranging from concentrated contemplation and distracted doodling. The drawings framed what I intended as a rich, complex, imaginative although highly personal view. Like the Eames movie the pieces of paper framed areas of “relative activity and inactivity”.
