been framed lately?

In case you are in the Dayton area, please stop by Custom Frame Services and see what Dave Crowell did with "Hairy Cemetery Nut". Some really amazing reclaimed wood stock surrounds the floated print.

http://customframeservices.com/content/photography-by-francis-schanberger/

Please visit them during the hours of 10 am - 6 pm Tuesday through Friday and Saturday, 10 am until 2 pm.

1029 Wayne Avenue, Dayton OH 45410

Their phone number is 937. 220. 9020

Registering my patience

The anthotype I've given the working title of "daughter" had a bit of a mishap. The sleeping dress slipped a bit off the paper revealing the amount of image that has occurred. I had to cut the plastic wrap off and carefully re-register it twice. Coming up to its third month of exposure with a few days in the garage during heavy rains, this is where it's at.

Remote Trigger

This could be an archive Monday entry but I haven't really followed through on that concept. Last Friday I had planned to shoot a new Dr. Frangst image. Shooting a picture. Sounds simple unless your Gregory Crewdson.

To resurrect Dr. Frangst, I have to locate the pants, the shirt, the glasses, etc. The coat isn't a problem. I have lots of lab coats laying about and now have two with cyanotype, photogram designs that can be employed as costume. 

The view camera that's another matter. I have to load about three holders for a total of six pieces of film. I have to make sure the shutter is firing after a recent class demo went awry. 

Perhaps the most vexing problem is the Fernauslöser. What, you ask, is a fernauslöser? Translated literally it is a remote trigger. Specifically for the project it is a 10 m long pneumatic cable that activates the shutter on either my 12 inch Dagor lens or the 14 inch Ilex Paragon. 

Quickly before this blog descends into the specifics of view camera dialogue...one small reason the Dr. Frangst project fell to the wayside is der Fernauslöser. I switched, late into the second iteration of the project, to a mechanical self-timer which negated the need for a pneumatic cable release. I was getting tired of the bulb occasionally not doing its job in tripping the shutter. Initially the mechanical remote did the trick but it required a bit of attention. I was in earshot, I could hear the timer winding down and I could also hear the shutter open and close. 

I soon discovered that sometimes I couldn't hear the timer or the shutter. Maybe it was an early sign of my impending tinnitus. Regardless, the Dr. Frangst images became less and less a part of my output. I think the use of the pneumatic bulb was key. 

Friday, I spent a few hours breaking out the remote trigger. I have two. The first one is a Kaiser with funny cartoons on each side of the box. One depicts a visitor to a state park carefully driving over the bulb to take a picture of himself in nature inside the car. The second shows two table tennis players, one of which is about to step on the bulb and take an image at the decisive moment of the match. 

My other Fernauslöser is made by Rowi and is a bit older. Perhaps late 40's or early 1950's. I am including a photo that graces the instructions below. 

For two hours I cajoled the bulbs and cables, finally cutting off a bit here and some there and combining the two into a functional remote trigger. 

Look for more pictures in part two of this entry.

Solar Minimum

Anthotype update: they are getting there. It has been over a month and the only evidence of fading has been the small areas where the spring clamps had covered up coated areas of the paper (see picture below).

The thee or four variables that may be extending the exposure time:

1. Intensity. We are three weeks away from solar minimum.

2. Duration. The Anthotypes only receive about three hours of sunlight per day not counting the time when the neighbors" trees block out direct sunlight with their branches.

3. Wrapped in not entirely transparent plastic. Since they are kept outside the plastic tarp is necessary and a contributor to exposure time suck.

4. Extra strength pokeberry. The double costing and undiluted pokeberry emulsion are much more resistant to bleaching.

Freebie Friday

As an alternative to Black Friday and as a means of shameless self-promotion, I am offering a free postcard to anyone within reading distance of this blog. Please email me your preferred mailing address to frangst@gmail.com

I'll even mail it overseas for free!

This is a self-produced card for the Ohio State University Urban Arts Space exhibit featuring the Pajama Pants Rose Petal Anthotype.

cat ears

Shortly before going to Boston in 2011, Ki snapped this instant photo of my cat Chasputin on Impossible Project film. It's on page three of an online exhibit on Aline Smithson's Lenscratch blog. The exhibit is called Pets and Favorite Animals and can be found at http://www.lenscratch.com/2012/11/the-2012-lenscratch-pets-and-favorite.html?m=1

Hairy Cemetery Nut at Custom Frame

Posting entries can be like big steps or little steps. Today is a little step.

Dave Crowell over at Custom Frame Services has selected my business card out of a glass bowl, randomly I've been assured, for a free frame. As you can see, he has chosen to float it and present it in beguiling, distressed wood. Head over to his shop at 1029 Wayne Avenue in Dayton, Ohio to see it on display, now until the end of January. They are open from 10 am - 6 pm Tuesday through Friday and Saturday, 10 am - 2 pm. http://www.customframeservices.com/

Photo courtesy of Custom Frame Services (possibly captured by Charmaine Griffith)

Francis Schanberger discusses his anthotypes

Francis Schanberger discusses his anthotypes, a photo by amymyou on Flickr.

Four of us our wearing four eyes! Thanks Amy Youngs!

osage orange and black walnut system

The one comment that really sticks in mind from the summer residency in Boston is from Drew Ippoliti who is currently working on his PhD in London. "Artists are problem makers, not problem solvers!"

I've given myself several problems over the last two weeks. The problems I haven't successfully solved are due to time constraints, defective paper and a complicated lighting set-up.

I am trying directional lighting to evoke the look of a Voyager image which is alleged to be the first photograph to show the Earth / Moon system together in one frame. Perhaps you can recognize the Black Walnut and Osage Orange I am using as surrogates for a planet and moon.

I am showing you an ugly print. Once time permits, I will upload the final version.

Almost as Good as Being Back in Grad School

Tomorrow night between 6-8 pm, the Urban Arts Space in downtown Columbus will host a reception for both part I and II of Inoscuation. There is also an artist panel planned at 5pm featuring  Vesna Jovanovic, Michael Mercil, Suzanne Silver, Ardine Nelson, Rebecca Harvey, Kate Joranson, Amy Youngs and myself.

It's almost as good as being back in grad school.

Below are some installation images. Note the subtle reference to the additive color primaries blue, red and green. Completely accidental.

INPHA International Photography Annual 1

Not totally in the area of shameless self-promotion but fairly close. Manifest Creative Research and Drawing Center has a history of producing high quality publications for their rotating exhibits. They also have been producing beautiful surveys of drawing published as the INDA or International Drawing Annual. They have also been producing surveys of painting and how now published their second annual INPA (International Painting Annual).

This past May, they embarked on a survey of photography to coincide with this month's FotoFocus, the month long exhibition at a number of venues in Cincinnati, Dayton and Kentucky (Covington). The book was released officially last Friday and includes the work of many national and international photographers. There are photos of some of the artists at the book signing. Check them out on Manifest's Facebook page.

Here's a list of the artists featured in INPHA, the International Photography Annual #1:

Jocelyn Allen, Lars Anderson, Chris Arrecis, Massimo Barberio, Scott Barnes, Jesse Morgan Barnett, Franck Bohbot, Susan Bryant, Seder Burns, Alison Carey, Bryan Christie, Van Chu, Lauren Coggins-Tuttle, Alison Crouse, James Curran, Victor Currie, Alicja Dobrucka, Craig Dow, Meghan Duda, Mitch Eckert, Tracy Featherstone, Laura Fisher, Skye Gilkerson, Richard Gilles, Jodie Goodnough, Noelle Gray, Dominic Hawgood, Natasha Holmes, Fossett James, Stephen King, Paula Willmot Kraus, Kent Krugh, Kevin Kunstadt, Suta Lee, Echo Lew, Miao Liu, Tracy Longley-Cook, Jenee Mateer, Fred Moeves, Emily Hanako Momohara, Erin Quinn, Monica Rezman, Michael H. Rohde, Julia Romano, Francis Schanberger, Brad  Smith, Alexander Solomon, Grischa Stanjek, Dominik Tarabanski, Walt Thomas, Samantha Vandeman, Emma  Williams, Christopher  Woodcock, Qian Yongning, Matthew  Zory

Inosculation at the OSU Urban Arts Space

Exhibition news:

Warning: choppy prose follows.

Inosculation runs which is set up as two halves of the same exhibition with staggered dates, runs October 30 – December 15 for the upper gallery half of the show. The lower gallery half runs from now until November 17th.

The  joint reception is on November 3rd from 6-8pm.

Three of the sleep wear anthotypes are will be on display in the second half of the exhibit. Since the show is pairing OSU faculty with alumni from the years around 2002  - 2006?, I am being showing along side Ardine Nelson who was my M.F.A. thesis advisor way back then.

http://uas.osu.edu/exhibition/inosculation

Here's a picture of the work at drop-off yesterday, October 23rd.

Physical Trace

The yellow lab coat came down last Saturday but the results were disappointing. Very little fading occurred which made me re-evaluate the act of sewing in the gallery space I had envisioned.

The coat only got about 40 minutes of late afternoon light on a good sunny day and I doubt there have Ben even ten of those during the run of in vivo. Not the best way to create a physical trace of the exhibition.

It is still disassembled and my inclination is to give the pieces more exposure in the backyard.

the (pink) lab coat is the experiment

The other component of In Vivo which was documented last Thursday, Pink Pokeberry Lab Coat. The pattern was created from a scan of a couple of pokeweed leaves.

The coat has several panels made from various dilutions of pokeberry juice. The left rear has completely faded because of the 1:2 dilution used but retains brown images where pink used to be. The right rear has faded the least and, in fact, achieved the least record of an image from exposure to sun. The right rear and right front pocket both got full strength pokeberry juice. The front panels were made using a 1:1 dilution of pokeberry juice.

The hanger is made from a fallen sycamore branch recovered in South Park (Dayton).

Thank you Charmaine Renee for your excellant sewing skills and problem solving abilities. Charmaine and I will be at DVAC tomorrow at 4 pm to sew together he saffron coat which has been at the front of the gallery receiving a bit of sunlight everyday since the exhibition opened.

waiting with map pins

One month, maybe longer, I return to the blog.

Sorry.

Someday soon excuses will surface but for now I will get right down to business. In Vivo, the three person show at DVAC, has two days remaining. Today, I returned to the gallery to document two of the pieces and now I am regretting not photographing the rest of the installation.

Above is an image of Forty-six, photographed at a raking angle so that you, the viewer, may see how each 12" x 9" piece is anchored to the wall. Just two map pins at the top, which leaves the bottom flapping in the circulating air. 

Gang of Four

Here's a preview of the grid of four framed cyanotypes of fungi at DVAC.

four of forty-six

It's been a while. These last few weeks have been full of printing, framing, printing, getting class materials together for a new semester, more printing, and more framing. Oh...and there was a short beautiful trip to New Mexico.

There is lots to blog about. To start off the new month on its fourth day, I am presenting a preview of the seed installation at DVAC. Here our four of the forty-six Van Dyke Brown prints of maple seeds I will have on the wall at the gallery. The exhibition opens on September 14th.

Not Light Fast

The Anthotype project is slowly progressing. The majority of the pokeberry coat has been exposed and is now in the hands of local artist and seamstress for the project, Charmaine Griffith. That's her in the picture with David Crowell who is allowing me to expose the three last pieces on the roof of Custom Frame Services.

The blackberry / mulberry coat continues to expose in the backyard. I'll start another coat in the gallery space of the Dayton Visual Art Centrr once the installation for "In Vivo" begins.

Army of Anthotype Love

The production of these Anthotype lab coats has become quite the project that involves eighty plus spring clamps, lots of plywood and clear acrylic (Plexiglass).

Did I mention that it's exhausting?

In progress

The cheap way to make cyanotypes without buying a 20 x24 split back printing frame.

mis-mitosis (ash seeds)

Here is the completed version of mis-mitosis (ash seeds). There are some irregularities to the way the paper was cut. I ended up using thin strips of exposed and processed van dyke brown prints to fill in the gaps.

It's growing on me.

Some process notes from today:

I worked on a new cyanotype fungus image and used the late afternoon sun for exposure. With the Coventry Rag Vellum White, my idiosyncratic inkjet negatives and traditional cyanotype chemistry, I obtained good print density with exposures of 12 minutes (at 5 pm) and 15 minutes (at around 6 pm).

In a couple of days I should be able to upload a quick and messy cell phone snap of the prints.

the usual suspects and their comfort zones

I do have an image of the newest piece for in vivo. I'll post it tomorrow. Or just visit my website, www. frangst.com.

In the meantime, just a heads up regarding the usual suspects, summer juried shows.

Three pieces, Pluot, Japanese Pear and Honey Crisp, are part of the annual Fine Arts Exhibition at the Ohio State Fair. This is a great exhibition that runs concurrent with the state fair, from July 25th through August 4th, bringing in a diverse group of visitors (fair go-ers) to see work made by professional and amateur Ohio artists. An opening reception is planned for Tuesday, July 24th from 6-8 pm.

Earlier this summer, I broke out of my comfort zone to work with an iPhone photograph which I printed for the 21st annual members juried show at Dayton Visual Arts Center. The exhibition is titled and themed "No Borders". Look for my print just below a photograph by Janelle Young. This exhibition runs from July 13th through August 18th. DVAC has gallery hours of 11 am through 6pm Tuesday through Saturday.

my next big thing

This is the layout for the next multi section van dyke brown piece I am making for in vivo. These are the negatives used for the print exposures done today. Thirty-five minutes per group of four.

Tomorrow I'll be processing about seventeen of these. I'll have two extra blanks and four unexposed, coated pieces of paper in reserve because I do not work in a perfect universe.

My inner Anna Atkins

Two more cyanotypes drying down. I mixed up new chemistry yesterday to a avoid the strange dark patches that may be from mold in the ferric ammonium citrate.

I am printing multiples to try some toning with gallic acid.

In case you were wondering, I AM channeling my inner Anna Atkins!

Away from the laboratory

Sounding a bit like a voice mail message, I am away from the laboratory at the moment. Spending a few days with friends in Chincoteague and dipping my feet in the Atlantic.

In the meantime, here's a preview of some of the new cyanotypes that will be shown in September.

twice diluted

Some surprises this time of year are bound to happen with lots of sunlight and alternative processes.

The pokeberry emulsion that I cut with water twice to cover the remaining pieces of fabric is fading very quickly upon exposure to sunlight. The image below represents about 4 days of exposure (maybe as little as 3). The second image is the backside of the fabric which has retained some of the intense color.

The downside to this fast of an exposure is possibly equally fast fading.

exposure side

flipside

Wish me luck

Here's the start of the pokeberry Anthotype labcoat.

Textile in progress

Here is a preview of the pattern I created using two pokeweed leaves. These will become the pokeberry emulsion textile from which the labcoat will be made. After cleaning up the scans of 14 leaves I ended up using just three. The bottom and top side of one leaf as well as the bottom of another. The double sided leaf is to scale. The other was reduced to fill up so empty space in the textile.

no borders

Inkjet prints are something I try to avoid making. The printer is usually reserved for making negatives for alternative processes.

Not tonight.

Here is a work in progress which I am considering for the Dayton Visual Arts Center's Annual Member Show. This year DVAC has chosen the theme of no borders.

There is so much visual similarity to the cosmological images I have been making with fruit and a strange resemblance to the animation in Bjork's iPad App for her Biophilia album. I think I'll rearrange a lyric or two into a title for this image: "fast as a fingernail". Maybe I should sleep on it.

unhappy accident

the aftermath of a heavy rainfall last week. I'll unveil the disaster tomorrow.

In All Fairness, 2012 Edition

It's almost that time of year to go to the Ohio State Fair to see the Fine Arts Exhibition. Amidst the livestock, dairy and butter sculpture displays found on the fairgrounds in July is an amazing display of visual art as well as contemporary video and short films. I make it a point to enter work in the juried exhibition each year.

In the 2012 edition of 2D and 3D work was juried by Jon Cook, Executive Director Peggy R. McConnell Arts Center of Worthington and Ardine Nelson of Columbus.

I will be exhibiting "Pluot", "Honey Crisp" and "Japanese Pear". Bridgette has two paintings in the professional division.

Other 2-D artists showing work in the professional division this year are:
Monica Anne Achberger, Karen Albanese Campbell, Timothy Albon, Judy Anderson, Ginnie Baer, Carron Baxter, Bridgette Bogle, Rick Borg, Jon Browning, Louise Captein, Mark Chepp, Rachel Clark, Alex Conrad, Ken Coon, Anne Cushman, Clifford Darrett, Betsy Defusco, Joanna Donchatz, Susanne Dotson, June Douglas, Paul Emory, Valerie Escobedo, Frederick Fochtman, Mark Fohl, Sean Foley, Bruce Foster, Margaret Freed, Angela Gage, Beverly Goldie, Lloyd Greene, Tracy Greenwalt, Christine Guillot Ryan, Rod Hayslip, Cody Heichel, Helen Hoffelt, Tony Hoover, Morris Jackson, Donna Jacobs, Laura Joseph, Richard Jurus, Dan Knepper, Jules Knowlton, Amy Kollar Anderson, Chris Lang, Marc Lincewicz, Brenda Lloyd, Kevin Longley, Ken Marshall, Paul Mcclain, Lynda Mcclanahan, Kellie Mcdermott, Kathy Mcghee, Mike Miller, Ronald Mlicki, Juliette Montague, Ashley Moore, Paula Nees, Chaz O'Neil, Kathleen Pepicello, Alyssa Petrosky, Allison Pierce, Mabi Ponce De Leon, Jose Luis Quinones, Loaned Rain, Robert Robbins, Lindsay Rodgers, Debbie Rosenfeld, Nikos Rutkowski, Laurie Schmidt, Kristine Schramer, Jenny Scranton, Ashley Shellhause, Don Slobodien, Meghan Sours, Emily Starr, Marlene Steele, Melanie Steffl, Marti Steffy, Andrea Stern, Joan Tallan, Sally Tharp, Marcus R. Thomas, James Trout, Gerald Van Scyoc, Barbara Vogel, Chun Arthur Wang, Linda Wesner, Janna Wheeler, Daryl Woody, Darlene Yeager-Torre.

In the professional division, the 3-D artists are: Laura Alexander, Lindsey Alexander, David Argento, Sandra Aska, Carolyn Baginski, Diana Bjel, Carol Boram-Hays, Jim Bowling, Juliellen Byrne, Scott Dooley, John Freiman, George Gregory, Chelsey Hammersmith, Michael B Hays, Alissa Head, Mikelle Hickman-Romine, Gary Hovey, Tamara Jaeger, Kevin Keiser, Carrie Longley, Barbara Morejon, Lauri Murphy, Jeffrey Owen, Jeffrey Owen, Nate Ricciuto, Mark Rosen, Melinda Rosenberg, Jason Routson, Keith Simpson, Catherine Bell Smith, Nicki Strouss,and Jane Tuss.

For the 2-D and 3-D artists in the amateur division please visit the Ohio State Fair Fine Arts Exhibition blog at: http://theohiostatefairfineartsexhibition.blogspot.com/

The coat is the experiment

I should know when to stop.





Here are three examples of different pokeberry dilutions painted onto the cotton fabric I am using for the lab coat.

There will be one back panel and one pocket that will represent the undiluted pigment.

The two front panels, the other back panel and the two larger lower pockets will be the first dilution.

The arms and collar will be coated with the second dilution.

The coat is the experiment!

Three Easy Pieces

Today's image shows three larger pieces of fabric hanging to dry. The two on the right are undiluted pokeberry pigment.

what a mess I've made

The devil is in the details from what I've heard. Here are some current details.

I've thawed out the remaining poke berries from last fall given to me by Nate Smyth. What a mess I've made!





I also invented something to make my job easier. The crushed pokeberries make a thick liquid which is more syrupy than watery. A good potion of this syrup clings to the seeds.

In order to avoid rinsing the seeds with water to reclaim as much pigment as possible I developed a press to push out the liquid. I used three plastic containers, two are pint size and one is quart size (which becomes the default collection container). The middle container gets holes drilled into the bottom. This middle container holds the seeds and syrup slurry which I push down upon with an empty container with a lid closure.

All the containers share the same diameter (and lids), so they fit into each other (creating a stack). Since the largest container has more depth than the smaller containers, it never comes into contact with the liquid being separated from the seeds.




A note of warning. The previously frozen berries create an environment for fast decomposition. Gasses will build up in the bottles in which the liquid is collected. Leave lots of space in the bottle to prevent a magenta explosion!

Finally, I bought some fabric to make the lab coat and have done a small test coating of the material. This swatch will become the upper pocket on the front of the lab coat.

Progress Report

June 02

June 03

June 05

June 06

June 6th, detail

Lot's of pictures showing the progress of the fading and small misfortunes.

The garment is slipping a bit from bringing it inside in the evening and taking it out in the morning. Addtionally yesterday there was  a small downpour. This is something I wanted to introduce to the image but it is a bit different from the first Clem Wolfham. The image is being exposed sideways which is a "number of clamps" and "size of plexiglass relative to the plywood backing" issue. So the drips run perpendicular to the way I would like to introduce these marks. Additionally the plexi doesn't cover the entire surface area of the paper so the pokeberry emulsion has completely run off the paper in these areas.

I am getting closer to exposing the fabric of one of the anthotype lab coats. Now I just need to teach myself to sew and maybe I can pull this off.

sun spot

Notes on the limited sunlight in the yard: probably closer to just five to five and one half hours of sunlight unattended in the backyard.

Yesterday's pic showed the Anthotype in the sunny corner of the yard at 10:48 a.m. Today's image was taken at 4:48 p.m.

Clem Wolfham in fuchsia, day 2

Today is a bit of a wash for exposing outside (continuous rain) but I did get to wear a cardigan and jeans on this first day of June.

Here is a picture from yesterday. My best estimate is that the anthotype can get six hours of sunlight unattended in this one spot in my backyard.



Yesterday, I did get out to glean some mulberries. I have about 3 pints worth of berries but the lab coat may require a lot more.

clem wolfham in fuchsia, day 1

It's out, getting a small window of intense light each day. Check back for progress reports but I expect to keep this out until roughly the summer solstice.

After this will be a pokeberry anthotype on a labcoat. First, I have to thaw out and mash up some pokeberries from last fall.