174. Francis Bacon
laboratorio de ying, nyc.
Sketches for a pinhole camera dedicated to the British painter Francis Bacon. This design belongs to a series that I would describe as healing machines which attempt to reconcile the photographer in some way as it is used. The first camera I designed with this idea was a view camera for the pianist Glenn Gould. The languid disorder of the painter's studio at 7 Reece Mews, where Francis Bacon created orderly, almost modular works, made me think of a possible transcendent device, a whimsical psychological marker for this chaos.
The near-psychedelic painting palettes of Bacon, blooming out-of-control within his studio could perhaps be subverted into an order within the confines of a camera.
The ubiquitous, glossy, semi-dark Brach's Bridge Mix chocolate coating points to the idea that the only true color that can approach black (or darkness and shadows) is brown.
The proposed camera's structure looks off-balanced, hanging in the air like the subjects in some of Bacon's raw emotional paintings. It has two legs and relies on leaning against the wall (adapted from furniture design). The unvarnished blocky wood enclosure, almost like a funerary box for ashes, is deliberately kept plain, functional and bare, with a minimum of features on the exterior to match the characteristic appearance Bacon's studio.
Bacon had a keen interest for photographs, working off of them for inspiration. It was the nearest he got to abstraction.
The internal viewfinder shows the outdoor facade of his studio at 7 Reece Mews. This and a fragment of stone from that facade (mounted behind cobalt blue glass to impart a nuance of mystery and that of being long forgotten as this is also a homage) are reminders of the studio, and is rendered in a simplified order in stark contrast to the interior of Bacon's studio. Pulling open the 1st dark slide on top accesses not only this "brownie" -styled internal viewfinder but opens the pinhole's cover for exposure. An identical 2nd darkslide at the bottom of the right hand side covers a door to dispense the candy to a "payout" chute (steel-lined).
The chute, candy and the lid of the camera's enclosure recall Bacon's obsession with gambling. A roulette wheel's shape is carved into the underside of the soft wooden lid which formally divides the upper and lower halves of the enclosure.
In the fantasy, both Bacon's destructive gambling and paralytic clutter are subverted/converted into an addiction for a monotoned bridge mix candy (itself a randomly generated element) and is thus dispensed in sane portions, mimicking a chance/gambling event. A unified mixture also is a homogenizing action for clutter. Additionally, a mahjong-styled marker on a chain is used to indicate the percentage (which would be comfortably titrated and decreased) of the custom chocolate candies which would have Bacon's favorite liquor in them.
The idea of a bag of mixed candies for a card game is both charming and nostalgic nowadays.
Brach's old fashioned monotone chocolate candy mix contains : fudge, peanut brittle, peanuts, caramel, raspberry jelly, malted milk, raisins and filberts.
Incidentally, See's Candies has their own version of Bridge Mix consisting of: California brittle, peanuts, almonds, molasses chips, raisins and caramel.
Design, text and drawing are copyright 2014 by David Lo.
174. Francis Bacon
laboratorio de ying, nyc.
Sketches for a pinhole camera dedicated to the British painter Francis Bacon. This design belongs to a series that I would describe as healing machines which attempt to reconcile the photographer in some way as it is used. The first camera I designed with this idea was a view camera for the pianist Glenn Gould. The languid disorder of the painter's studio at 7 Reece Mews, where Francis Bacon created orderly, almost modular works, made me think of a possible transcendent device, a whimsical psychological marker for this chaos.
The near-psychedelic painting palettes of Bacon, blooming out-of-control within his studio could perhaps be subverted into an order within the confines of a camera.
The ubiquitous, glossy, semi-dark Brach's Bridge Mix chocolate coating points to the idea that the only true color that can approach black (or darkness and shadows) is brown.
The proposed camera's structure looks off-balanced, hanging in the air like the subjects in some of Bacon's raw emotional paintings. It has two legs and relies on leaning against the wall (adapted from furniture design). The unvarnished blocky wood enclosure, almost like a funerary box for ashes, is deliberately kept plain, functional and bare, with a minimum of features on the exterior to match the characteristic appearance Bacon's studio.
Bacon had a keen interest for photographs, working off of them for inspiration. It was the nearest he got to abstraction.
The internal viewfinder shows the outdoor facade of his studio at 7 Reece Mews. This and a fragment of stone from that facade (mounted behind cobalt blue glass to impart a nuance of mystery and that of being long forgotten as this is also a homage) are reminders of the studio, and is rendered in a simplified order in stark contrast to the interior of Bacon's studio. Pulling open the 1st dark slide on top accesses not only this "brownie" -styled internal viewfinder but opens the pinhole's cover for exposure. An identical 2nd darkslide at the bottom of the right hand side covers a door to dispense the candy to a "payout" chute (steel-lined).
The chute, candy and the lid of the camera's enclosure recall Bacon's obsession with gambling. A roulette wheel's shape is carved into the underside of the soft wooden lid which formally divides the upper and lower halves of the enclosure.
In the fantasy, both Bacon's destructive gambling and paralytic clutter are subverted/converted into an addiction for a monotoned bridge mix candy (itself a randomly generated element) and is thus dispensed in sane portions, mimicking a chance/gambling event. A unified mixture also is a homogenizing action for clutter. Additionally, a mahjong-styled marker on a chain is used to indicate the percentage (which would be comfortably titrated and decreased) of the custom chocolate candies which would have Bacon's favorite liquor in them.
The idea of a bag of mixed candies for a card game is both charming and nostalgic nowadays.
Brach's old fashioned monotone chocolate candy mix contains : fudge, peanut brittle, peanuts, caramel, raspberry jelly, malted milk, raisins and filberts.
Incidentally, See's Candies has their own version of Bridge Mix consisting of: California brittle, peanuts, almonds, molasses chips, raisins and caramel.
Design, text and drawing are copyright 2014 by David Lo.