Operating Table in Hell

I have a set of images in mind which I've been working on for the infinite print project. These are abstract anatomical studies of vertebrae and the central nervous system. Since this project was a free response I felt more comfortable working in my most stylistic, abstract, and prolific environment: Apophysis. The fractals I incorporated into the pieces seem ironically appropriate for a print of infinity. Beyond this I love mathematical art, although I was never very good at math I enjoy the neo-platonic sense that I am recognizing and revealing a hidden beauty through skillful processing.
It comes naturally to me to think in terms of programming rather than depicting, as well as when I'm working on music, so it doesn't surprise me that I've taken to this technique. This may have something to do with the experimental nature of my art, as it has so many complex variables as to open a myriad of original possibilities. Originality is quite important to my artistic output as well, I'd rather create something new and have it turn out badly than imitate something I like and have it come out... kitschy.

The problem with this seems to be that I'm making art for myself, and in not concerning myself with a greater audience I close my mind to certain aspects. There is a self assurance and ignorance to this which doesn't exactly appeal to me.

The specific pieces I'm working on are, as often is the case, personally significant. The overarching theme is the interaction of one's own chemistry and biology. Things that are corporeal and that which is experienced and perceived. Fueled by my morbid fascinations with anatomy and pathology these works depict an abstraction of feeling or being which is paralyzed by flesh and bone. This is an expression of a significant life experience for me. I tried to convey a sense of the immaterial in my renditions of the nervous system. The bones remain but the energy has more transience. Furthermore, I rendered the bones with more naturalism, abstract as they probably seem, while the nervous systems I almost completely interpreted.

In some ways this is a response to my last project which emphasized escape, this one emphasizes captivity: reality. I even began to notice my Cross-sectional study 's vertebral processes took on an almost crystalline aesthetic, probably since it was one of my favorite qualities of the last print.


I just got it to a point where I like it. I was inspired by crude antique cross-sections of the cervical vertebrae which make up the right half of this spinal column. The left half is more of an exterior profile showing the superior and inferior articular processes more inspired by advanced digital imaging techniques of the modern age. In these contrasting manners it gazes internally, and recalls the theme of enhanced images in order to gain perspectives that surpass the human eye, like the 400x magnified DMT crystals used in my last project as Jennifer noticed. I'll upload some pictures later to illustrate the anatomy involved later, as well as some more technical information on how I produced these.



Liberated Vertebrae, this was the first I made in this series. It gets into a much more lavish interpretation of the superior ganglia and energy within an unusually stimulated nervous system. This isn't cropped the as well as I'd like, I'm changing it, and probably some other things for the final draft.




This is a separated yet intertwined rendition of the central nervous system with flesh and bone. Again sort of abstract. It begs the question Who's in control here? Personally I'm partial to the mind, but a balance of both is probably the healthiest concord.


I'm thinking the cross-section may be best suited to this project, although I may use two. In any case I'd like to hear what people think but especially which of them I should use for Thursday, so I can know what I should focus on.

Update; Considering the 8x11 size of standard paper I've resized two of these. This is how they would appear in the context of this project, albeit at lower resolution.

Mors et eius copiae.

I've thought of this new project once or twice. The idea of dissemination I adore, the medium on the other hand isn't as inspirational as the tri-color print was. For the last project I thought "Three colors... I can work with that." This project I find myself thinking "Low quality digital printer, oh angst..."
At least with a digital printer I can work on something much more complex which can be more fun. Yet any average person's printer doesn't necessarily reproduce something very complex with the quality I'd like. I have a piece I've been working on that I may finish and use. I fear that something of the resolution will be lost in the project's poor quality prints so I may save this for later. I have a bad habit of leaving things unfinished, but I have too many new ideas.

The working title for this is The Liberated Vertebrae you really have to click it and view it full size to see it very well.

Revelation dies.

I think I've got this prepared for printing on acetate. After a horizontal flip and confirming the proper resolution...



As it turns out this needed to have space added between images. After a few proofs and two attempts at a print I had to abandon my screen and make a digital print for the final project. Although I'm admittedly disappointed with this failure, at least a digital print can use more colors. I ended up using a similar tracing technique in illustrator with my detailed copy of the draft but with two more layers.

Five Colors



It seems like the product is clearly better than my poorly registered and heavily simplified original copies.


Three ColorsI still like the patterning in the crystals of the first version though...

There's no escaping this reality.

I got some images to illustrate the progression to a tri-color print. The image above (which doesn't seem to appear properly) was my original draft processed directly into illustrator for tracing. As I mentioned in a previous post it came out badly. There wasn't any definition to the details and the forms were generally oversimplified.




Having seen how this first draft came out in illustrator I realised I'd have to redefine and darken the edges myself. This is the original composition detailed with black in photoshop. It doesn't have to be perfect, this attempt was crude but the lines are simplified enough later it comes out fine.


I used the cutout filter in photoshop's filter gallery to get a real time approximation, pictured above, and it's already clear this version is better suited to this sort of processing. Cutout filter proved to be of lower fidelity than the live trace functions in illustrator though, so it was only useful for drafting an image and quickly previewing how it would survive tracing.This is the final product, in panels to compensate for the 24 in. screen width (height 14 in.). Unlike images processed by the cutout filter, the live traced prints are easily resized without unwanted pixilation.

This is the later after color separation in illustrator, which again yields better results than similar techniques in photoshop in my experiments. Three panels each with one of the three colors used make up the image in greyscale in the lower right corner.

All problems solved.

I've been experimenting with how to break down my image into a tri-color print and haven't gotten good results with my draft and simple adjustments like contrast. I took some inspiration from Man Ray, who often detailed his photographs in pencil before making prints, and started defining the images by hand in photoshop prior to processing them in illustrator. I'm getting much better results when transitioning to three colors now. I'll try to get some images up later to illustrate the process. A common thread this work seems to share with that of Man Ray, I am beginning to notice, is derealisation.

I had another idea for text, I have to make note of it before I forget again. "All problems solved."

Load universe into gun, aim at brain... fire.

I got to thinking about how manipulation is personally significant. It quickly became clear that manipulation of perception was relevant. I've never felt terribly comfortable with reality, so I've become intimately familiar with many means of manipulating, but ultimately never escaping it.

This is suicide no. 11. The profane finality of this escapist is yet to be seen, but there is intention in the gesture. This is desperation and misery at the surface, hope and ideal beneath.



This is the stuff of dreams, a crystal of Dimethytryptamine magnified at 400x. Dr Rick Strassman theorized that in human physiology the pineal gland, a sort of vestigial third eye, synthesizes DMT. The expressed effect of this chemical is perceived as dreams. If a brain is traumatized into shock the pineal gland can release a flood of the chemical manifesting in what is known as a near death experience.


I made some adjustments to the image to create some negative space and optical refinement.


I'm playing around with just how it fits and this was appealing to me. I'm still uncertain how it will be colored exactly, so this is black and white. What I like is the play of contrasts. The material world and the artificial, permanent and ephemeral, dreams and drugs. The themes here have deep personal significance, I am not generally comfortable explaining my symbolism since it has a way of decapitating interpretation. I am beginning to understand that my art direction tends to be downright esoteric, or at least irrelevant to the audience, so I hope these notes help with insight. I was also thinking of some surrealist work like "This is not a pipe" by Renee Magritte.
Some text can lend a lot of meaning to a piece, but more importantly clarify the artist's statement. In this respect I might simply state the analogy and title literally "Load universe into gun, aim at brain...fire." This describes the effects of smoking DMT, in particular breakthrough experiences that can be as difficult to psychologically integrate as a bullet. On the other hand there is always the potential for miscommunication and its disastrous consequence. The first words that came to mind for this piece were "Shall we live to regret..." and "Or forget?" but this seems obtusely suicidal and could detract too much from the meaning. I'm going to experiment with this a little and see how I can incorporate text.