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Romantic photographs

Ruffino, Ian

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2001, Master of Fine Arts, Ohio State University, Art.

My work illustrates a space. This is biological space of a communication, or at least my understanding of that biology (the space that exists between the neurons in my brain, which the electrical pulses pass through), and it occurs to me that this space, in my brain, is inhabited by a strange foggy material. This material has created a barrier that causes either a pause in the electrical pulse or diverts it entirely, which makes it difficult for me to communicate. I want to see this material to better understand it.

I have found that when working with two systems, structure and non-structure, I am able to articulate this space best. The "romantic photograph", and especially the one with a satin finish, blurs that line between two-dimensionality and three-dimensionality because it allows a connection between two realities. It metaphorically is a skin that breathes. When looking into the edge of a photograph, as if looking into the edge of a pane of glass, one can see the three-dimensionality of the materials that are suspended within the emulsion. When photographs are printed on paper with a satin finish, the viewer's proximity to those materials is closer. With a satin finish, the emulsion is not planer; it is rough and has a patterned system of protrusions and suppressions.

My research has lead me to working with materials that allow me to work within their inside. They either pose a transparency, like glass or clear acrylic, or they allow access to their inside, which is recordable and perceivable (paper). I am interested in understanding the placement of each molecule of material and making it visible like dust in the air when a sharp light hits.

It is my belief that the essence of the difference between structure and non-structure is a proximity issue. This is why two-dimensionality can always subvert. My idea of the space that the electrical pulses jump in order to communicate is what I am trying to see. With my work I am either trying to recreate this "strange material", or I am trying to create a new bridge of material to better cross these synapses. Ideally the bridge would be made of the same material as the information.

Charles Massey, Jr. (Advisor)
Malcolm Cochran (Committee Member)
Alan Crocket (Committee Member)
28 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Ruffino, I. (2001). Romantic photographs [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1328207807

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Ruffino, Ian. Romantic photographs. 2001. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1328207807.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Ruffino, Ian. "Romantic photographs." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2001. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1328207807

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)