LET'S GET PHYSICAL

Today we had our show called LET'S GET PHYSICAL with physical plant. I was collaborating with Chilled Water Plant used for air conditioning. I did a video installation piece in memory of the bugs that died in this plant. The show took place at an amazing, open roof garden which used to be a chilled water plant. I projected my video on a screen inside a messy room adjacent to the garden with a barrier at the door to block people from entering the space. This, in a way, echoed what the chilling tower was like, where noone was allowed to enter, except for the bugs that can't be stopped. I really enjoyed working on this project, working with things (drawing, video, bug images) that I like. I think I will make use of the waterfall footage a lot in the future. T sum up, I am glad this happened and that I was productive.

First failed trial of combining water with bugs

New Plot / Storyboard

At first it will be heavy on nature. There will be nature (trees etc) reflection on the pond where I throw the bugs. Below that, a layer of chilled water plant will show through, it will mostly almost still water with a few drops or a little bit of current.

Then slowly the drops are gonna increase and become heavier. Eventually only the water fall will be showing, and close-ups of drawn bugs will be overlaying the constant waterfall. The drawn bugs will be on a pool where there is reflection of clouds this time.

Then the close-ups of bugs (more of them together) will be overlayed with this filter that is in the middle of running water.

All of a sudden, the heavy drops of water will take over (a lot of foam and water falling) overlayed by the footage of drawn bugs moving around because of things being thrown into the pond.

Then eventually it will slow down, and loop back to the beginning.

Process

So I filmed the chilling tower and throwing bugs into a pond seperately. Now I am transferring them to the computer and overlay them in After Effects. I like the reflections on the pond and pieces of branches actually, so I think I might keep them a little bit (not just because I am lazy to mask all of them).

Other Ideas

The other thing I really want to do is to project video on this waterfall and see how it works. This could be a lot of different things, but some of the ideas I have are:

1. a video of people in different seasons: a. summer (a hammock and sea) b. people running away from rain c. snow d. leaves falling and some rain in the fall
2. a video of my face looking around, this would be a reference to me trying to work with/out of this place
3. videos of different masses of water to tell (repeatedly) to the water in there their actual identity, the fact that they are not a slave/prisoner of that space, and freedom will come one day (one extension of this could be projection of a text about water, inspired by Corn Study by Dave Burns and Matias Viegener)

So they didn't accepty my idea of throwing bug/lizard/frog drawings into the Chilled Water Plant. even if I would collect them back. So I needed to come up with a solution. And I am not giving up on the idea of co-memorating the creatures who die in there. So My solution alternatives:
1. film the creatures in a bath tub, then insert it into a video of the water plant. either by 1. aftereffects 2. projecting onto the water
2. film the creature in a pond, a pool, or river and do the same as above.

So I need to experiment these things this weak. So if I make a list of things to do in priority:
1-draw creatures bugs by Thursday (DONE)
2-screen print creatures on Thursday
3- film the chilled water plant
OVER THE WEEKEND:
4-film the bugs
5-do after effects next week
I think it will work.

Some notes I took talking to Bill

• Cooling tower - water. The rotation cools down water by around 11 F -> then this cools the refrigerant.
• The water that comes out it cold and goes into the buildings to cool down the buildings.
• The water that falls never leaves this plant.
• The quality matters - it is clean or it would cause corrosion or scaling.
• They have filtration sustem, it swirls the water and blows out the bugs and soil.
• Once a year they change the water and it is not drinkable but wouldn't kill you.
• They also use phosphanate to keep the dissolved matter dissolved.
• The closed system, water is cleaner than the water in cooling tower.

Project Proposal - Draft

The cooling tower is a mesmerizing place. It is very powerful and dominating with the loud noise of the falling water, and constant, never ending drops of water. But it is not always pleasant. After a while, it becomes intense and even disturbing. I want to reflect this effect and some other observations of mine in my work.

The McCarty Chilled Water Plant is composed of three parts: two buildings (the cooling tower and the plant where pumps and pipes with refrigerants reside) and one electric transmitter (which supplies energy to the plant). Water in cooling tower circulates like a waterfall, falling down from the ceiling, being cooled down by fans on the roof that blow steam out of the building. The cooled water then goes to the next plant where it cools down the refrigerant, which cools down the warm water that comes from buildings and send it back to the buildings to cool them down. The water in the cooling tower however never leaves the plant. It circulates for about a year and gets drained and replaced with clean domestic water after a year.

This means the water we see in the cooling tower is clean; discounting the bugs, frogs and lizards that accidentally end up in the tower to meet their doom. If one of these unfortunate creatures somehow get in there, it means that they will drown and be another layer on top of the filthy filter that prohibits any substance to enter the next plant which could possible corrode or scale the pipes. In a part of my work, I would like to make homage to these creatures that end their lives in this plant constructed by humans to serve their own needs. I want to draw attention to these small things (details) we usually overlook. My idea is to make a somewhat ritualistic act and recreate or reincarnate them. I will draw various creatures (bugs, frogs, lizards etc) that die in this place, and reproduce them numerous times. Then I will take them to the cooling tower and release them on the water till they start moving with the water a little bit and deform and bleed their color. At this moment, I will collect them back, dry them out and place them in one frame. This whole process will be documented. I will be taking pictures of the drying process. On the other hand, I will take a video of the performance in cooling tower, where I will film the creatures floating, sinking on the water and slowly move the film up to the dark corridors of the plant.

At this point, I want to emphasize the absence/presence of the humans. I am going to digitally insert shadows of people into the corridors of the cooling tower, behind the thrilling waterfalls. This is a metaphor for the human element in this place. This place exists solely for human use, and yet no person walks in here.

The film will eventually come back to where it started, to the floor, only to find nothing but water, since all the creatures are long gone…

The sound of the video is yet to be discovered. I will play with the playback speed and see what surprises the high-speed or slowed down sound of water brings, along with other recorded sounds.

Chilled Water Plant Meeting 2 - McCarty

Inside the chilling water plant (the tower).A detail of the floor:Map of the distribution of cool water . The blue building are cooled down by McCarty Chilled Water Plant, which is the biggest on campus.The following is a diagram that shows the cooled water that leaves the plant to go to the buildings and the warmed up water that comes back from the buildings:
The following is a diagram that shows the water circulation between the plant which has the pumpers with refrigerants and the chilling tower which has the water circulating and fans no the roof to cool down the water.

Chilled Water Plan Meeting 1

So I met with the physical plant people at the chilled water plant. I had some disappointments:

• I was thinking about projecting a video on to the water, but after my meeting today I learned that I am not allowed to go in there:( Then he showed me the roof which had 4 fans blowing air on to the sky, which would be awesome to fly stuff out of but I am not allowed to go there either:( So even if there are some limits I think I have an idea of what I am gonna do.
  

• I want to project video stil but probably on top part of the fence on the briock walls after I cover it with a sheet that I will patch work with different pieces of fabric like a map.
  
• Also I am thinking of a sound work, I will record the water noise on Friday.
  I have this fantasy of building a pump and actually making my own water to project on:)

So things have changed, but I think I found my residency spot. We'll see what happens on Friday when I meet them again. I asked for a map that shows where water goes, they will try to get it for me. They are really nice people. I am going to McCarty plant this time.

Meeting the Physical People

So, I couldn't meet the Chilled Water people yet (tomorrow hopefuly) but me and Michael went to see the underground tunnels at Shands and the rooftop.

Hosgeldiniz / Welcome

This is a blog for my artist residency project at UF Physical Plant.