This project had been slow for me, for it took a while for me to figure out how I want to present it. This mixed-media artwork is titled "Video-Phone Hallelujah". It speaks upon the advancement of video conferencing technology happening lately, which is becoming more beneficial for the deaf and hard of hearing communities. I'm creating mixed-media art projects that focus on high technology and deaf/hard of hearing culture as a theme.
In this work, the image of a female friend and myself talking to each other via video-phone is actually a clear acetate paper, xeroxed from a regular print out. I took a photo of my Sorenson video phone, turned on on my HDTV in my living room, with a digital camera. There were no one in the video-phone when I took the photo. I used PhotoShop software in iMac computer to copy/paste a friend of mine and myself into the screens of the video-phone. That made it to look like we are chatting with each other.
I then used silver duct tapes to attach the clear acetate image of the video-phone conversation onto two white rectangular-shaped styrofoam, found from inside the boxes. I also used strong glues to keep the tapes on them. I then used strong glue and velcro to attach the back of the two white styrofoam things onto a mirror. The mirror, itself, is velcro-attached and glued onto a sturdy black cardboard. Then I attached the whole thing onto one wood frame with velcro and strong glue. I painted the frame with black acrylic paint. I then used silver duct tapes to cover the white styrofoam things to make them more metallic-looking. I had a silver chain and used it to hang the work, held by two silver hooks.
There is a blue tin metal box, which had a watch in it when I bought it, emptied, at the bottom. I attached this particular blue metal box with velcro and glue. I then used glues to make the small silver disco ball stay attached in the box as if it were actually being hung. I found a tiny clear plastic box. I crumbled a shiny silver fabric and put it into the clear plastic window, then closed the box, sealed up. I then cut an image of an astronaut on EVA chair in space and glued it onto the front of the clear plastic box. Lastly, I taped the outside of the blue metal box with silver duct tapes, which helped remove the blue color. The color blue on the box did not fit with the rest of the gray/silver colors of the project.
You may ask yourself, "Why did he put a disco ball and an astronaut in the box?". It is a conceptual information that refers to big science technology (space explorations), and fantastic novelty and "It's so cool!" feeling (the disco ball at concerts or in night clubs). This relates to the technological progress and extravaganza of video-phones. We can say, "Hallelujah!", because video-phones really enabled deaf/hard of hearing communities to communicate with the world so much better. If you look at the video-phone conversation between a friend and myself on a clear acetate paper, you would notice the image are being reflected off the mirror behind it. The reflection is fun to notice when you look through the clear acetate paper. It also conveys the idea that 3-Ds or holograms are coming around soon.
I have been creating this mixed-media artwork that conveys the message about technology and the deaf culture. Yet it is not completed and it is in progress.
