FRANCISCA DURAN: RESEARCH GARDEN: A COMPENDIUM OF LOST MOMENTS
CURATED BY: LESLEY LOKSI CHAN
EXHIBITION: OCTOBER 27 - DECEMBER 1, 2023 | OPENING RECEPTION: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2023, 7–10
In Francisca Duran: Research garden: a compendium of lost moments, the experimental media artist takes her analog film practice away from the screen and creates a multisensory installation centred on plant-based images. Meticulous and dreamy, the interactive exhibition includes wiry film flower sculptures sprouting from local soil, cascading film test strips on a large light table, hanging digital prints of enlarged film fragments on walls, a collection of optic objects for our viewing pleasure, and in the midst of it all, a 16mm film projector plays on loop her most recent piece, Compendium (2023). Compendium is the original work from which most of the plant-based images in the space are derived. Full of lush shapes and vivid hues, the film loop was handcrafted by Duran using the techniques of phytography and optical printing. Phytograms are created by the exposure of black and white celluloid or photo-paper overlaid with plant material and dried in daylight. With this technique, plants are both the subject of phytograms and also provide the necessary chemistry to produce them. As Duran remarks, “It is part science, part cooking, part magic.”
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