Altering the Landscape

For her “Altered Landscapes”? exhibit at the American Institute of Architects in Washington, DC, artist Victoria Cooper wanted to create a work of art for the gallery”?s back wall that would truly stand out and also draw together all the pieces in her exhibit.

The majority of the exhibit”?s images were of New York”?s Central Park, and this artwork”?which would be installed on the gallery”?s back wall”?would be no different. Titled The Cathedral of Trees, it would depict the park”?s famous Promenade”?a symmetrical arrangement of Elm trees. Importantly, Cooper also wanted the piece to represent how photographers in the mid-1800s took panoramic pictures in sections and also mirror the “stereographic”? imagery in vogue in America during the Victorian Era.

Production

Using her Arca-Swiss medium-format camera, Cooper produced 6×7 photographs of Central Park”?s Promenade. She scanned the resultant transparencies with an Epson Perfection 3200 flatbed scanner, manipulating and color-correcting in Photoshop.

She then printed an enlarged section of each as a test print for all six panels on her Epson Stylus Pro 9600 wide-format printer. Once satisfied with the results, she output six separate 35 x 47-in. panels, using the Epson 9600 with Epson Ultra”?Chrome inks on Crane & Co. Museo Max Archival Fine-Art Paper.

To provide the artwork with the dimensionality she was seeking, Cooper moved onto the second part of the project: a single, sheer fabric piece that would hang just 1 in. in front of the wall-mounted panels. The fabric would have printed on it the same images as the six panels; viewers would look through the fabric images to see the others.

She outsourced the fabric printing to CSI Infinite Photo of Falls Church, VA. CSI used its Durst Rho 160 UV-curable flatbed printer to image onto a 5 x 10-ft piece of Neschen Accutech Voile sheer fabric. Total printing time took 20 min. CSI printed 12 x 60-in. strip proofs using the Durst Rho for Cooper to sign off on. The final printed fabric was finished with hems and a pole pocket on top using industrial sewing machines.

Comment

“Initially, the whole thing was supposed to be done just with fabric,”? says Cooper. “But when I saw the fabric and I tested it against the wall, it was kind of lifeless”?it didn”?t have the dimension.”?

Client

“Altered Landscapes”? exhibit, Washington, DC

The Players

Victoria Cooper, Chevy Chase, MD (www.victoriacooper.net)

CSI Infinite Photo, Falls Church, VA (www.infinitephoto.com)

Tools & Supplies

Durst Rho 160, Epson Stylus Pro 9600 with UltraChrome inks, Epson Perfection 3200 flatbed scanner, Neschen Accutech Voile, Crane & Co. Museo Max Archival Fine-Art Paper, Singer 300W205 and Tacsew T111-155 sewing machines, Arca-Swiss 6×7 camera, Adobe Photoshop.