Loss / Recovery / Decay

Last week I had the absolute pleasure of visiting the Lossless exhibit at the Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon University to do a collaborative photo shoot with Carl Bajandas. I couldn't have been more flattered or excited for this shoot because Carl's work is eminently breathtaking and brilliant. He says this piece "explores our relationship to loss as one of entropy."

Upon arriving to the third floor of the Miller Gallery, Carl's work (titled Loss / Recovery/ Decay) is easily the first piece you'll see. One of my immediate reactions was "HOW!! How did you do this Carl?!" The large-scale arched canvas stretches across the entire center wall. When I first saw this piece it was a vibrant aquamarine color with little hints of copper here and there and a beautiful sparkly and grainy texture.  This effect was achieved by creating a solution of copper sulfate crystals in water. The copper oxidizes and the solution crystallizes. Surrounding the piece is a hypnotizing droning sound. This sound is also part of the art work. Behind the canvas is a computer that plays the noise though a special software. The software registers the dark discoloration of the piece and emits the sound correspondingly. When I went back to the exhibit last week, the art work had changed so much since I had first viewed it. There were dark browns and greens running down the canvas along with a little bit of the turquoise/aqua color still peaking through the art work. It was mesmerizing to see how the color field had changed in just a couple of weeks. Check out the time lapse video to see how the chemical reactions are "slowly co-evolving both sound and color."

Because I find this piece to be both striking and calming, I decided to wear something that was neutral and a pattern that corresponds yet clashes with the natural texture/pattern of the art work. I bought this dress a few years ago at Goodwill. It was originally a maxi dress with long (puffy) sleeves so immediately after I purchased it I brought it home and cut the sleeves off and cut off most of the length at the bottom so it would look more flattering on my body. I'm extremely happy with how it turned out and I add this wide belt to give the dress less of a boxy shape. I paired the dress with these brown heels to coincide with the dramatic feel of piece, being that it's quite tall and spans the entire center of the gallery.

Thank you again Carl Bajandas for doing the photography and Miller Gallery at Carnegie University for inviting me into the gallery to do the shoot! It was an absolute honor and beautiful experience.

Please check out the rest of Carl's work on his Vimeo channel and visit the Miller Gallery at CMU for more upcoming exhibits!   

xo,
Maddie



Outfit Details: 
Dress: Vintage
Belt: Charlotte Russe
Heels: gomax