June 2nd, 2010 - Colour Data Processing: About
CDP is a collaborative endeavour that merges Lossless Processing (Adam Tindale + Jordan Tate) and Error (Ryan Boatright) to investigate conceptual concerns of image sorting with the determination of the accuracy of colour reproduction in a live loop that compares reality with its digital reproduction. While the exact nature of the project is still in flux, the basic tenets of the project are in place. We share an interest in questioning the representational nature of photography from technological, conceptual, and theoretical perspectives. We intend to create an installation whereby we can determine the veracity of colour reproduction in a video feed in real-time while simultaneously allowing all data that is not reproduced accurately to be visualized as a second channel video feed. Essentially, we plan to separate accurate data from inaccurate data and address both as art object.
Vincent (June 6th, 2010 at 3:12 pm)
Hi there, your first draft sounds very promising. Would it be possible for you to explain a little further how you will decide whether a colour is correctly reproduced or not? Will the veracity of a reproduced colour be measured by specially calibrated hardware? Will you use some algorithm/code to distinguish a the colour difference? What interests me a lot in your project is the investigation the field of tension between the measurement and reality. Whereby I especially take to account that every probe is child of a particular world view.
Ryan Boatright (June 6th, 2010 at 7:55 pm)
Vincent,
We just made a post to the blog that may answer some of your questions. Essentially, a spectrophotometer and camera do the color collecting, and code will power the various representations. Thank you for your interest!
Michael Demers (June 11th, 2010 at 12:51 pm)
I, like Vincent, am also very interested in the project, specifically the finished “objects” themselves. What you pose is an interesting experiment — I’ve often thought about Google image searches of the Mona Lisa, and how on one screen so many variations of one image can exist. I’ve also got a personal interest in how color is represented digitally, though from an admittedly less scientific (and more aesthetic) perspective.
My question concerns the source of these studies — I was particularly drawn to the works on the Lossless Processing site that had art historical underpinnings. I understand that you will be using various objects for the project (I read something about a pear?), and would like to know if you have plans to ground the work conceptually in a more artistic context — or is the source of the color not as important to you as the differences between the “real” and the
“represented”?
jordantate (June 11th, 2010 at 3:49 pm)
What you bring up here is a very interesting point that is one source of inspiration for the project. As a departure from Benjamin’s The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction we have discussed the ability of digital replication to reproduce works with far more accuracy (with regard to data) yet also much more subjectivity (perceptually based on monitor profile, colour space, room conditions, etc). The fascinating adaptation of this in a contemporary context is the lack of comparison between our “versions” of the same data.
Our main interests lie in determining the accuracy of these reproductions (see upcoming post) based on a limited colour palette that we provide. This choice is less aesthetic than functional (although we are rather excited about the aesthetics of a 64 colour palette) due to our methods of calculating colour discrepancy. Our choices of palette will be largely representational of the data we plan to receive rather than choosing colours based on their historical (art or otherwise) significance. In that regard, the conceptual grounding of the work lies less with art history and more with Walter Benjamin.
Michael Demers (June 12th, 2010 at 1:04 pm)
But isn’t Benjamin also talking about the loss of the “aura” of the original object in the reproduction? In this sense I would think the choice of object being reproduced would be significant?
jordantate (June 22nd, 2010 at 4:32 pm)
I am approaching the aura as an entity separate from the object
all together. The aura is what is lost in reproduction rather
than the original object. In this, the object is rendered
irrelevant and the “aura” lost is indiscriminate of the original
object. What we are choosing to examine is the phenomenon of
reproduction rather than its effects of any individual image.
Michael Demers (June 29th, 2010 at 7:07 pm)
But Benjamin is talking about the loss of aura as it relates to
the reproduction of works of art, not, say, a pear (an example
taken from the Lossless website). For him the aura has everything
to do with the politics of representation, and the distinction
between a work of art held in an elite museum is very different
to any variety of non-political objects. I think you confirm this
when you said: “As a departure from Benjamin’s The Work of
Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction we have discussed
the ability of digital replication to reproduce
works with far more accuracy…” (my
emphasis).
To this end, how will you decide which objects/images to
reproduce for the project? This sounds like a very deliberate
scientific study of aesthetics, and I have difficulty believing
the sources of this study to be accidental.
Roanne (June 7th, 2010 at 10:27 pm)
Hi there, your first draft sounds very promising. Would it be possible for you to explain a little further how you will decide whether a colour is correctly reproduced or not? Will the veracity of a reproduced colour be measured by specially calibrated hardware? Will you use some algorithm/code to distinguish a the colour difference? What interests me a lot in your project is the investigation the field of tension between the measurement and reality. Whereby I especially take to account that every probe is child of a particular world view.
+1
Michael Demers (July 19th, 2010 at 1:28 pm)
Okay, this makes sense. Particularly this part: “live sorted
video of the gallery.” I think that answers my first question,
and does so within the context I was asking about. Thanks!
Tim Pickup (July 30th, 2010 at 5:01 pm)
A question:
if you create a palette which is closer to real world colours,
does this mean that you can compress images further, because
there will be less dithering necessary?
jordantate (July 9th, 2010 at 6:11 pm)
This is a fair point, and an important distinction. In previous
works (for Lossless Processing) I have chosen subject matter that I
felt promoted interesting conceptual dialogue without articulating
a methodology. Source images ranged from art-historical references
(http://losslessprocessing.tumblr.com/post/450962290/hiroshi-sugimoto-tyrrhenian-sea-1994-pixels)
to commentary on contemporary uses of photography as record rather
than object
(http://losslessprocessing.tumblr.com/post/495279012/photograph-of-my-wife-and-i-in-a-snow-storm-red).
From here, many of the choices moved on to more of a self-reflexive
critique of photography and the uses of the photographic image with
the data sorting as a method of addressing the image as its core
elements rather than a reproduction of a pre-existing reality. For
this project, however, choices of subject matter have taken a
little bit of a back seat to the process of sorting, as the primary
implementation will be live sorted video of the gallery, in essence
a reduction of the representational accuracy of reality. Other
reproductions will have to be considered for future use, but since
the process is live (so to speak) the source material will either
have to be from reality, or from video footage. This alone
compromises the choice of Benjamin as a starting off point for the
video works rather than the previous application of his theories to
still production.