Holographic Chiaroscuro: Figures in Virtual and Pseudoscopic Space

• Published in: Leonardo (Oxford) Vol. 41; no. 3; pp. 302 - 303
• Main Author: Dawson, Paula
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 238 Main St., Suite 500, Cambridge, MA 02142-1046, USA MIT Press 01.01.2008; The MIT Press
• Subjects: Fresco; Holography; Spatial models; Special Section: Transactions; Stereo; Transactions
• ISSN: 0024-094X; 1530-9282
• DOI: 10.1162/leon.2008.41.3.302

In this article the author explains how her work with digital holographic stereograms extends a long tradition of work in two-dimensional media in which anomalies in light and darkness have been used by artists to engender a greater sense of familiarity and presence of the subject. "Shadowy Figures" and "Luminous Presence" animate the darkness and light within the spatial volume of the image to lend a sense of complex temporality to a figure. The type of complex temporality evoked stems from a Tiepolo drawing of a Roman soldier. Because the way the beholder interacts with the animated holographic stereogram is open-ended, light and darkness can be used to create the illusion of a static three-dimensional scene; or the 3-D ability can be destroyed by moving the subject elements. "Shadowy Figures" investigated three distinct approaches to using darkness derived from Giotto, Masaccio and da Vinci. "Luminous Presence" enabled the viewer to see transparent 3-D figures in many spatial orientations. Switching between interpretations of the image is intrinsic to holographic image-making and a key element in extending the vocabulary to enable complex temporality in holographic stereograms. Transparency can lend to a figure a complex temporality similar to that achieved by Tiepolo's shadows. (Quotes from original text)