For my final project I wanted to do a piece that incorporated my experience at the Channel
Islands. While on the cliffs near the ocean it seemed that only life was the crashing of the waves. Shortly after exploring the rocky areas I began to notice dozens of small crabs scuttling around. They were shy and hard to catch a good look at. I began to notice all the animals on the rocks blent it with their surroundings. It took a careful eye to spot all the starfish that were hanging out on the rocks in the water. Sometimes when the tide went out low enough they revealed themselves completely, multiple starfish all clustered near each other. I tried to get close to them but the waves kept them hidden and out of reach. I was able to get pictures of a several starfish as the waves ebbed in and out . I made gifs of these images, to show that movement of the water and the animals hidden beneath. I wanted to recreate my interaction with the starfish outside the natural environment. I wanted viewers to have the same sensory experience of discovering, of taking the time to see whats really there. I projected these gifs on a rock because it would bring the texture of my images to life. It was really important to me that the projection was shown a surface similar to where it was recorded. I feel the piece was really aesthetically successful because it combined the imagined space with a realtime object. In the future I’d like to recreate an entire cliff setting, filled with ocean sounds and rocks with different kinds of projections that show the wildlife present. This piece is really about getting people to the see things we typically pass by, either because they are so well camouflaged or don’t really move. The starfish is the animated rock of the sea, showing subtle signs of life. My work aims to mimics this by animating the rock through the use of a gif.
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