The year is nearly over! I’d like to congratulate you on making it through. It’s been rough, to say the least, and definitely has felt a lot longer than 12 months.

To keep the newsletter on the short side, this month I’m going to be splitting it into two. Below will be a short update on the progress of my seed of life sculpture/projection project and then later this month I’ll be sending out a little year-in-review/looking ahead.

I’m happy to announce that I’m about 80% done with the seed of life sculpture prototype!

Brief recap if you missed the last newsletter: I’m applying to an artist in residence program at Lakewood Cemetery and as part of the project I’m creating a sculpture to project onto.

The assembly is mostly complete, save for some final touches to make sure it’s durable. All that’s left as far as construction is the stand. After agonizing over it for quite some time, I finally figured out how to make the stand sturdy enough while also maintaining a somewhat transparent appearance.

As far as the animation—since brainstorming, storyboarding, and creation take a good amount of effort, I took a break from finalizing construction to make sure that I have plenty of time to work through the creative process. The application deadline is December 15th and I’m confident I'll have everything completed by early next week.

I’m calling the project “Illuminating Grief and the Cycle of Life.” I’ll be proposing several projections on the cemetery grounds, but my main focus will be the seed of life sculpture. The aim of the project is to depict through light and movement how nature’s cycle of life and the complexities of grief are intertwined.

The animation is about half complete as of right now. Keep in mind this is only a sample for the application, not the final version.

Click on the image below to watch a video of the work in progress.

Here’s a rough draft of the animation’s description:

Lines weave in different directions, illustrating that grief isn’t linear but winding. Spheres glow and fade to represent the ebb and flow of bright moments. We experience joy and grief simultaneously.

After the shape completes, the light dims. When it returns, pieces are missing, symbolizing how loss can lead to a feeling of incompleteness. As some lines recede, others grow, forming a flower. The outer petals vanish, depicting the loss of blooms in autumn. Color fades in and growth begins. Life continues.

As I finish up the animation I’ll also be doing some projection tests to see how textures and other types of animation look on the tubing. I’d like to push the boundaries of this a bit so it’s obviously projection mapping and not computer programmed LED lighting.

Wish me luck on the application! Notification is at the end of January so I’ll be sure to update you in a couple of months.

All the best to you as you prepare for the holidays! Be sure to carve out some moments of rest and reflection.

Until the next newsletter, be well!
Giesla

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