Tag Archives: Art

Be a bit Pirate AR

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Be a bit Pirate AR

A short while ago I made myself an AR animation to go wih my business card, the post Gardens Project 14, says a bit more about it and I’ve wanted to do more since.

One of the arms of my ever growing octopus of projects is looking at platonic solids and developing drawings and sculptures around these forms. The work then becomes about itself rather than it’s subject; materials, textures, colours and other qulaities of surface and form become more central to the piece. So I started to play around with building AR accompaniments to drawings and ultimately models of the figures.

This first piece uses a photograph as the source but was originally worked off the 3d model. Part of my thinking is around the idea of imperfect platonics, as if they were crude representations made as simply and quickly as possible. Both of these are recorded from my android phone.

The next stage of the project will involve extended the range of models and the nature of the the solids in relation to the classical elements. The example above is my first attempt with the tetrahedron and fire.

Be a bit Pirate AR

Studio View March

The model for the tetrahedron was made from hand made paper deliberately because it presents difficulties, it is hard to finish evenly because the paper is buckled. The thickness, about 2.5 mm, would appear to offer a good join but the twists and turns of the surface work against it.

tetra model on a sketchbook

tetra model on a sketchbook

I used this view of the model as a target for the vuforia file and the apps will tie in quite easily to the object itself.

I’ve obviously continued to work on other things as time passes, writing applications for grants for example, and I’ve also worked on some other drawing.

Be a bit Pirate AR

Because Therefore

This drawing arose as a another tentacle of the mathematical symbols research I’m still engaged with.

Drawing

I’ve continued to draw every day, including reaching 1000 consecutive drawings on 30th January, and you can see the February images  here

  • Draw Every Day – February 23
    Draw Every Day – February 23
    Draw Every Day - February 23 Continuing to draw every day, in a new sketchbook using ...
    See photo »

and the January images here

  • Draw Every Day – January 23
    Draw Every Day – January 23
    Draw Every Day - January 23 Continuing to draw every day, in a new sketchbook using ...
    See photo »

There is a link to the previous month’s Gallery on each page.

The drawings are posted to Twitter and Instagram each day.

Same Old Same Old

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Same Old Same Old

Same Old Same Old

torus maquette 1

During January I continued work on the lemniscate/finitude/tori path, moving the tori drawings into sculpture through a series of five maquettes. These are conceived as large scale works, eventually around five feet tall so the standard view is across the apex of the lens that tops, in fact ‘is’, the form.

Same Old Same Old

torus 1 detail

The photographs above give an indication of the presentation.

The idea behind these is discussed in Stepping Aside Occasionally, a blog post from August last year where I talk, briefly about the notion of the absolute presented by the form. It’s not original but is a way into making things again.

I started to work with styrofoam (expanded polystyrene) from packaging and eventually bought some blue foam to build the structures solid parts. What I want is for the sculptures to be spatial translations of the tori drawings.

Same Old Same Old

torus 2 maquette

torus maquette 2 detail

torus maquette 3

torus maquette 3 detail

torus 4 maquette

The fourth maquette was actually the first to be put together but fell out of sequence with repairs and repainting – I’m considering the addition of graphite elements.

torus 5 maquette

The fifth maquette is the one that uses the blue foam on its own to layer the lens that you look across.

torus 5 maquette detail

As well as carrying on with these sculptures I’ve been painting, just to keep my hand in by stretching myself with technique.

Glassware – Oil on Board 10″ square (wip)

The glassware and the table are from photographs I found so I’ve started to use views of the house instead.

Table – oil on board 12″ square (wip)

Like this view of the kitchen table.

kitchen table – oil on board – 12″ square (wip)

All of these, as you can see, are works in progress.

I put together a round of 2022 as a mini website https://www.ian-latham.com/2022/ linked from the front page of the main site.

Drawing

I’ve continued to draw every day, including reaching 1000 consecutive drawings on 30th January, and you can see the January images  here

  • Draw Every Day – January 23
    Draw Every Day – January 23
    Draw Every Day - January 23 Continuing to draw every day, in a new sketchbook using ...
    See photo »

and the December images here

  • Draw Every Day – December 22
    Draw Every Day – December 22
    Draw Every Day - December 22 Continuing to draw every day, in a new sketchbook using ...
    See photo »

There is a link to the previous month’s Gallery on each page.

The drawings are posted to Twitter and Instagram each day.

Being Sidetracked (continued…)

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Being Sidetracked (continued…)

This is the first post since the end of August and I’m still off track. Pottering I think. About six weeks ago I saw a competiton for VR work that matched the geranium project

In preparing for entry I reconfigured parts of the project and added some effects in the rain garden and the painted garden, storm effects and shadows, and also did a lot of work preparing the piece for Quest 2 as well as The Index and Vive.

Although you can easily build for both platforms you have to switch the platform in Unity to do so. I now know that while it switches without a problem it won’t switch back without causing all sorts of glitches.  I’ve spent far too long building two versions of a very big Unity file. The advantage is that I’ve now got the file updated to a more recent Unity and I can use some better effects in the new work.

The submission got no traction at all, nothing after the acknowledgement, but my own analysis and discussions with colleagues led to the idea that I need to develop a narrative that guides you through the VR world. So that’s where I am now, trying to write a story that I can take through the process.

I’ve not been entirely idle alongside this, a few months ago I started a drawing of a fox

I’ve done some more work on that and it looks like this now

Being Sidetracked (continued...)

Dark Fox

I’ve also been working on some found or accidental images, the first is from a piece of plastic acquired from my last workplace, that I thought suggested an interior.

Found Interior Chesterfield

Found Interior Chesterfield

Drawing

I’ve carried on drawing every day and you can see the October images  here

  • Draw Every Day – October 22
    Draw Every Day – October 22
    Draw Every Day - October 22 Continuing to draw every day, in a new sketchbook using ...
    See photo »

There is a link to the previous month’s Gallery on each page.

The drawings are posted to Twitter and Instagram each day.