Over the last few years my art practice has evolved from digital, high concept installation based work to include earthy, lens based and darkroom prints. It has been a rewarding period of change where I have been creating new work using heritage photography and print based techniques including alternative processes like Cyanotype and Salt Print. I have developed and refined my skills when it comes to producing large scale salt prints and have built a dedicated darkroom studio to make this work. As part of this change I developed an ongoing interest in astronomy and space, finding ways to explore and connect ideas of remoteness and distant objects with hands on darkroom processes. And this is where I need your help.
I have been quietly working on a new topographical print of one of the largest impact craters on the Moon – ‘Mare Orientale’. It is not easily visible from Earth so I have been working with satellite data to construct an image digitally and built four virtual Orthographic cameras to capture it in quarter sections. Each section was sent to a render farm and then pieced back together. The image currently measures around 2 x 4.5 foot in size at full print detail and quality. It is breath-taking. I want to make a limited edition Salt Print series of this work. But it is a costly process. The materials alone to print this work will come in at over five hundred pounds and then there are other costs to consider.
See below for an example smaller, A1 test print using satellite data to create a wider panned out shot.
I also wanted to use the Kickstarter model to share the making of this print and actively update and include you, the project supporters, in the entire process as it unfolds. I wanted to ensure that there is not only generous communication, but meaningful project rewards. I’d genuinely like to make new friends along the way.
The look and feel of the rewards depend to a certain extent upon the discoveries I make along the way with this project, but see examples below to get a good idea of what they will be like.
Reward – We have lift off – 6 x 4 print of a section of the moon
Reward – Escape velocity
Reward – Apollo 8 – EXAMPLE
The image below is an example of a cyanotype I made for a previous project. Shared here to give you an idea of the quailties of a cyanotype print. The section of the moon I will print will be decided once the project is in progress!
Reward – Ground Control – EXAMPLE
The project needs to reach completion before the zine can be finalised. But I have made several zines in the past. My preferred format is 148mm square like the example below!
My goals are; To improve my practice by printing on what is an incredible size for a salt print and to build a backlog of a few prints ready for exhibition calls. So ultimately, what you are doing if you support this project is to help me, the hard working artist here to build a new body of work that will help establish my practice on a bigger stage. My goal funding amount is quite small by Kickstarter standards and it will get the project moving. Any extra would help beyond my targets would help me cover the costs of framing and crating. It would also cover some of my time and enable me to bring an assistant on board to help. It would be great to be able to pass on these skills to others.
Anything you can do to help support this project is genuinely valued and appreciated, including sharing it online and ongoing words of encouragement!
If you are interested in this project and want to read more about the work I make and become part of the gang, sign up to my regular newsletter HERE.
Thank you so much for getting this far.
Dominic
The main risks to this project as with any creative project run by a single artist are un expected illness. Should this occur then it will delay the delivery of the final prints. However considering the small scale and short duration of this project it is unlikely. But, I will communicate with backers immediately should anything cause a delay. I have delivered multiple commissions to time and budget over the course of my career.