Live Light

Arizona Daily Wildcat "Aristotle's Problem" [detail of a camera obscura projection] by Richard Torchia

When you first enter the exhibit you are greeted with almost total darkness, especially if you've just come in from the spring sunshine. In this "anteroom" is a fascinating preview of the exhibit to come, and one that explains clearly the principles at work. A large telescope lens mounted in the doorway projects an inverted, flipped image of the CCP's lobby onto a nearby wall. The resulting image is faint, but quite clear as your eyes adjust. Racks of books seemingly hang from the ceiling; students stroll along upside-down nonchalantly; a dropped book plummets alarmingly straight up in the air.

Inversion is one of the hallmarks of all camera obscuras, and one of the qualities that makes them so fascinating. Viewing everyday people and objects upside-down makes gravity visible and present - you no longer take for granted the force that holds you to the ground.

Each of Torchia's five installed pieces are based on the Arizona desert environment, and were designed specifically for the CCP's main gallery space. The piece "Desert Bloom" creates a tremendous projection covering three full walls with images of a flowering cactus in bloom. Projected by a battery of 20 lenses, the desert plant (changed each day) appears greatly magnified and fragmented - intentionally designed to look much as a pollinating insect might see it.

If you step close to the walls the blossoms appear almost human-sized, revealing delicate detail and shading of color. The slight blur around the edges and the dulling effect of the white paper screens produces a final image as delicate as watercolor or pastel, yet dynamic and ever-changing.

"Klepsydra" features a palo verde branch (occasionally dipped in a bowl of water) projected onto the wall. The large image is another spooky illustration of gravity made manifest, as water droplets swell, elongate and then plummet towards the ceiling. A companion projection features the view from under the water, rippling as each drop lands. This piece was intended to illustrate a fact about the Arizona desert: more water evaporates into the clouds each year than falls from them.

"Limelight" projects an image of humble and omnipresent household dust onto a translucent screen. Dust is seen mostly as a nuisance, but in Torchia's hands it becomes cosmic, breathtaking. By employing a very narrow depth of field he was able to make the dust float in and out of focus, producing a remarkably three-dimensional image of a constantly swirling maelstrom. It takes some time to get the full effect, but the result can inspire vertigo.

"Dial" is the most approachable and deceptively simple of the group. A huge image of a clock face projected is onto the ceiling, rotating counterclockwise so that the second hand is fixed in place. This is accomplished with a "telescope drive," a motor used to allow a telescope to track a star so it can be captured on film. More than just a spinning clock, this piece illustrates the movements of the stars themselves - and brings home the fact that it is not the stars that move, it is us.

The final piece, "Aristotle's Problem," makes clear both the concepts underlying this exhibit and its relation to photography. A set of simulated leaves lit by a lamp which is regularly "eclipsed" by a motor-driven disc, this circle of small, wavering projections illustrates the basics of optical science while producing a haunting, dynamic image. The projections are produced by mere pinholes in the leaves, proving that light moves in straight lines only, a discovery that led to the birth of modern optics.

The viewer isn't just confronted by a series of live images; these installations are also philosophical touchstones, spawning questions and thoughts, subtly challenging our often jaded view of everyday objects. By moving away from the fixed, printed image and capturing dynamic movement on such a huge scale, Torchia's projections invite an intense observation of our natural world. More than a simple scientific demonstration, these pieces are aesthetic statements which challenge both the eye and wit of the beholder.

While employing principles nearly two millennia old, Torchia's exhibit manages to feel fresh and modern. The fact that the images are live and not video or slide projections "wakes up" the viewer to a world of optical phenomena that take place all around us. This is a rare, fragile and fleeting glimpse at the raw heart of photography - and the capable hands and mind of an imaginative artist. It takes time, patience, and decent night vision to view, but the experience is well worth it.

Live Projections by Richard Torchia is showing in the CCP's main gallery through April 12 from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays and noon-5 p.m. Saturdays. Visit http://www.ccp.arizona.edu/ccp.html or call 621-7968 for more info.