Ortler Kettles Handmade Paper / Experimental Projection and Laser Technology

Abstract

The primary vision for this project encompasses the artistic representation of glacier regression. The effects of global warming are evidenced on the Ortler mountain range located in northern Italy. Through video and photography, this has been recorded by Elizabeth Mackie and became the foundation for our MUSE project. Our process includes beating Abaca bark, dying pulp, spraying pulp, and hand-cutting kettle shapes out of the resulting sheets of paper (approx. 5 x 4 feet). The kettle shapes are derived from photographs of shapes produced by melting ice. Once sheets are completed, they are installed vertically in trios. Shadows produced by the negative kettle shapes become progressively smaller as light passes through each successive sheet.