New Exhibit Asks How Far We Can Push 3D Imagery

Innocuously located in clock tower right next to an icy overpass in Queens stands the Holocenter, one of the few organizations in the world dedicated to the holographic arts (whom we also covered this past September). On December 18th, fans of the third visual dimension gathered for POLARITY, a night of various visions with live accompaniment. Hosted by the Holocenter and Splice, the evening featured a slideshow of stereoscopic photographs by Dave Comeau, Paul Johnson, Gerald Marks, Zack Lieberman, and John Zelenka, as well as short films by D. Carlton Bright and Maximus Clarke.

Visions from the future: one of the polarized 3D photographs being viewed through 3D glasses.

While holograms can usually be viewed without assistance, the polarized photos and videos on display all required the same sort of grey-lensed glasses they hand out at movie theaters. The images, while blurry to the unassisted eye, popped out in clear, digital 3D with the aid of the glasses. The pictures in the slideshow ranged from wedding portraiture, to tableaux made with Barbie bodies, to dioramas of natural history displays. The slideshow was set to the ambient score of electronic musicians Tū.

Blurred without the glasses, sharp and clear through them.

Ana Maria Nicholson, “At the Gate,” 1994-5

The video portion of the evening kicked off with Maximus Clarke’s video Occupy Your Mind, starring Clarke’s alter ego, Maxx Klaxon. A commentary on the Occupy Wall Street movement, or at least set in the same scene, Klaxon soapboxes about personal freedom through accepting his mind control while enthusiastic, “They Live”-esque placards flash by through the crowd.

PER SPECULUM IN ÆNIGMATE by Maximus Clarke.

In D. Carlton Bright’s stereographic “Willamsburg Concerto No.1,” visual associations led through ten years of 3D photographs and videos of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. From joyous riots following the Obama/Biden election to a mesmerizing slow-motion moment of a flock of pigeons, it was a varied portrait of the neighborhood--with Bright as multidimensional flâneur traveling by bike, foot, and car through the dimensional plane.

The process loaned a tilt-shifty, miniaturized quality to the cityscape as the film documented the transformation of the neighborhood over the decade. Special attention was paid in regards to the development on the waterfront, from cranes ripping apart pieces of old buildings to huge new condos dominating what was previously a Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood of colorful rooftops and tiny cars.

EXCERPTS from "WILLIAMSBURG: 3D of a Decade from carlton bright.

Winding through the former bank vaults downstairs, the Holocenter gallery showcased static pieces of holographic art, as well as a very helpful introductory film on how holographic plates are produced.

The work featured portraits, still lives, and abstractions, some of them worked into or participating in a dialogue with the existing structure of the vault.

Ikuo Nakamura, “Fossiles” 1999, installed in the Holocenter’s Vault (Photo: Ikuo Nakamura)

Observing Juyong Lee’s “Memory of Time #1.”

Overall, POLARITY offered a great introduction to a medium one doesn’t often get to experience in a fine arts setting, and showcased some really spectacular pieces made in a mysterious and often misunderstood dimension.

For more info on the Holocenter you can visit their website here.