Masks and vaccinations are recommended. Plan your visit
In Silhouette
Friday, March 1–Sunday, April 28, 2019
Included with museum admission and free for Daytime members and on Thursday Nights for After Dark members.
Tuesday–Friday: 2:00–5:00 p.m.
After Dark Thursday Nights: 6:00–10:00 p.m. (18+)
Saturday and Sunday: 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
In Silhouette invites you to experience remarkably complex and inventive works of shadow play. Upon entering the darkened Black Box, you encounter what appear to be mundane blank surfaces. However, hidden within each piece are unforeseen images that are revealed only under a flashlight’s beam.
Appearing to be small, mesh surfaces, Drzach & Suchy’s water-suspended Deep Insight reveals rival words in shadow when lit. A pioneer of hand-drawn holography, Tristan Duke presents works that result in floating, 3-D forms when illuminated. Rayform’s plexiglass plates resemble clear windows, but their projections onto nearby walls reveal a detailed photorealistic tableaux. Arm yourself with a handheld flashlight and bring these optical wonders to light.
Featured Artists
Drzach & Suchy
Drzach & Suchy are a design duo like no other: Drzach is an architect who combines art and design, while Suchy is a cryptographer and software engineer who experiments with holograms and various shadow techniques and materials. Together they showcase the hidden potential of light and shadow that can be unlocked using emerging technology. Both live and work in Zurich, Switzerland, and are always looking for new approaches to visual expression.
Tristan Duke
Based in Los Angeles, Tristan Duke has a background in photography and holography, and a deep interest in the science of optics and visual perception. Since 2008 he has been pioneering the development of hand-drawn holography as a creative medium. Duke's individual work has been exhibited internationally at venues including Art Villa Garikula, Georgia; The Velaslavasay Panorama, Los Angeles; MASS MoCA, North Adams; The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; and Holocenter, Long Island City, NY. Duke is a founding member of the Optics Division of the Metabolic Studio, along with Lauren Bon and Richard Nielsen. He is a fellow at the Museum of Jurassic Technology and current Artist-in-Residence at the Exploratorium.
Rayform
Based in Lausanne, Switzerland, Rayform develops light redirection technology that generates highly detailed images in shadow form. Cultivated through research at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, their technique uses computer-based algorithms to form images of caustics, a familiar optical phenomena. By machining subtle yet precise ripples into a transparent or reflective surface according to the algorithm’s calculations, incoming light is redirected to form amazingly clear and highly detailed images on nearby surfaces. Rayform works closely with a range of clients to craft a variety of one-of-a-kind objects, and has explored the phenomena at the root of their work in Outrelumiere, an exhibition honoring French painter Pierre Soulages and his fascination with light and shadow.
Rayform image © Adrian Meredith. Other images courtesy of the artists.
