To date the Grianan Digital Arts Project has held four exhibitions showcasing the amazing work carried out by the projects participants. Three of the exhibitions were held at the an Lanntair arts centre in stornoway while one was held at the Grianan Centre itself. The current exhibition Light Matters Stuth Solais is being shown in an Lanntair's main gallery space and will run until the 6th of Feburary. Images and information can be seen below.
EXHIBITIONS
contact@digitalisland.org.uk
Light Matters Stuth Solais
8th Dec - 6th feb
This is the fourth in a series of exhibitions that stem from the Grianan Digital Arts Project which was initiated by an Lanntair and involves digital artist Joe Mahony working with clients from the Grianan Day Centre in Stornoway and other local organisations, including Catch-23, Ardseileach, Lews Castle College, Lifestyle, APU and others.
Using the idea of light as a base and focusing on using cameras, projectors and lenses as well as the different ways that people can use light, the exhibition will include a huge variety of creations – light sculptures, projections, animations, black-light UV paintings and much more. The centrepiece of the exhibition will be a giant record-breaking hama bead sculpture consisting of seven panels, each made up of 88,305 beads (618,135 beads in total) which depicts local places and people.
HAMA TIME
The aim was to create a 22 foot by 7 foot 'stained glass' type panorama that will eventually fit in the 7 windows of the community room at an Lanntair.
Hama beads are a child's toy traditionally used to make simple images, coasters or mobiles by combining a range of coloured beads on a peg board then using an iron to fuse the beads together to form a solid piece.
The Hama Time project took the concept to a whole new level of ambition. The 22 ft panorama is made up of 7 individual panels which in turn are each constructed from 105 squares consisting of 841 beads, meaning that each panel contains 88305 beads. the final image contains 618135 beads and will hopefully be a world record.
The design for the image came from working with participants who came up with the inital sketch. Individuals then collected photos to create the individual elements of the picture such as landscapes, boats, buildings and the people in the image, all of whom are participants in the project.
'THE PYRAMID' by students from Lews Castle Collage with 'HAMA TIME' in the background.
'The Pyramid' was constructed by students from Lews Castle Collage. They decided that they wished to produce a piece if work based around Egypt so they choose a rage of images that fitted their theme, These images included, Cleopatra. the mummy, the great pyramids. the Nile, Mark Anthony and the statues at Abu Simbel. Once the images were selected they set about placing their own images into the characters depicted in the images using photoshop. Once this was done the images were projected large onto fabric and traced in black lines. They then painted the fabric and placed it onto its pyramid base to produce this stunning 5 ft lantern.
THE SHAPE
A group from the Ardseleach centre (a day care centre for adults with varied special needs / learning difficulties.) have produced this 7 ft lantern made up of 12 pentagrams. They created silhouette images of themselves and their hands which they have added colour to using the computer. The images were then printed out and ironed onto fabric. After making the individual pentagrams they panted them black then stitched the component fabric shapws into them. The 12 stars were then linked together to create this 7 ft lantern.
I AM THE LAW
This piece is a 6ft by 4ft panel painted in uv paint and exhibited under uv light to create a vibrant and bright effect.
The image is the front cover of a comic book that Donney Murray is currently working on. The comic book casts Donney as Judge Donney and tells the story of a drunken run in with the Angle gang at the local Rangers club
The Judge Donney character was created in a 3D package. Donney choose the pose then added his own face using photoshop. He then decided on the design and layout of the comic book page. The final image was projected onto a large panel where Donney traced around the picture using a pencil. The final piece was the painted using uv paint by: Donney Murray, Alison Corbet, Donald Graham and Helen Macleod.
View other work by Donney Murray.
CHILDRENS BOOKS
By Annie Maciver
Annie created this story book about Nancy the dog who gets separated from her family and goes through many adventures to find her way home.
This story follows the the further adventures of Nancy and her family. This time tragedy strikes as a terrable car crash traps the father and Nancy and her cat friend Trixie have to battle the odds in order to find help.
Annie created both of these stories which include the same characters having different adventures. The Heroine of both stories is Nancy the dog. Annie is currently working on a third story which features the same family but having an adventure in space.
The process of making the story books starts with Annie working out the story then, from that, deciding what happens on each page. The scenes for the pages are made in Poser (a 3D package). Once the scene is made Annie decides on what camera angle to use then creates a still image from that scene. Once all the scenes have been produced they are then imported into Comic Life ( a program for creating comics and graphic novels) here the text is added. Finally the images are uploaded to a company that will bind the story into a hard back book.
CAROUSEL
By Helen Macleod
When the circus came to Stornoway Helen went with a friend to see the performance. After the show Helen went home and there she came up with the idea of making a carousel. Helen wanted to use lots of different animals with different colours and patterns on them all. She also wanted to be riding all of the animals. Helen created all of the elements for the carousel on the computer. They were then printed out and constructed to create this charming 3D model of a carousel.
Helens carousel is the current featured project, if you wish to see how this was made in more detail click the featured project link above.
Click here to see other work that Helen has produced.
DODECAHEDRONS
By Janice Smith
These shapes were created by janice by selecting a range of shapes and symbols and overlaying them onto each other within a pentagon shape. The individual shapes were then printed onto back light film, cut out and stuck together to form these 12 sided shapes. Janice also used the pentagons to produce 2D patterns that were displayed on a lightbox within he exhibition.
If you want to see more work produced by Janice click here.
LIGHT BOX
By Catherine Macpherson, Donalda Macleod, Janice Smith
The work in this light box has been created by three different artists.
Catherine Macpherson work on flowers represent a selection from studies that she is producing looking at pattern and colour.
Donalda Macleod has used photographs of vehicles and drawn onto their surface creating a combination of the real and imagined.
Janice Smith's geometric pattern show a sample of the work on pattern and symbols that janice is currently working on.
