Artist Statement
NEW RITUALS
"The animations in this series were made by taking photographs with a stereoscopic lens and then alternating the left and right channels from the photograph in rapid succession. This technique creates perspective and gives the illusion of three dimensionality. The content of these images came from the desire to make magical scenes that fit that illusion. Taking cues from mystic, religious, and occult iconography I fabricated these tableaus in urban settings.
It's so easy to forget that we live and experience in three dimensions. 3D technology is making a huge comeback. Filmmakers are going to great lengths to create the illusion of depth that we can experience simply by looking around. In that frame of reference, these images become a strange contradiction. They are simultaneously flat and deep, frozen and frenetic. The kinetic energy is tangible and gives the illusion that the subjects could break free and burst into motion at any second.
In looking at these GIFs we can switch back and forth from remembering that they are two dimensional images projected onto a flat wall while believing the experience of depth. It's like looking at a drawing of a cube which switches in or out depending on what we let our mind's eye perceive. In the same way, we can perceive the rituals to be deep when really there is nothing behind them. The man in the cloak in a Christ-like position appears to be floating in the air, but it is easily understood that in reality he is just jumping. These photographs constantly construct and deconstruct themselves in form and in content; they continually collapse upon themselves.
Stereoscopy is hardly a new practice, but the advent and popularity of these GIFs in digital culture today recontextualizes the technique and revolutionizes the medium by doing away with the necessity of a viewing contraption (such as 3D glasses). As an artist who works in both time-based and plastic mediums, this is my missing link between photography and film. It's my zoetrope, even if it's not real." (Sheppard, 2009)
Artist Bio
Graydon Sheppard received a BFA in Photography from Ryerson University, but works in many mediums. Upon graduating he acquired representation as a music video director with Revolver Film Company alongside photographer/directors such as Charlie White and Floria Sigismondi. He has worked as a director in Tokyo, Copenhagen, Singapore, New York, and London, and has shown his personal work in New York, London, and Toronto. Graydon is currently based in Toronto.
