#onlight

The finished Cyanotype, measuring 7.5x15m 

On Saturday 2nd May, Melanie King, Andrés Pantoja and I broke the world record for the largest cyanotype ever made - it measures 7.5x15 metres, or 105 sq m! Previous record-breaking cyanotypes include JJ Hastings and Melanie King’s 6x10m cyanotype, Rosie Emerson’s 6x9m cyanotype, and Vincent Martin and Michel Miguet’s 5.56x7.94 cyanotype.

We were invited by the Wellcome Collection to participate in On Light, a weekend of events based around the theme of our relationship to light. We chose to explore this by making a gigantic cyanotype that visitors to the event could participate in by lying on the light-sensitive fabric and forming part of the image.

By far the hardest part was sensitising and drying the fabric, which we did the night before, under cover of darkness, in the vestibule of St John on Bethnal Green Church. The sensitising process involves dipping the fabric in liquid cyanotype chemistry, wringing out as much as possible, and then hanging to dry - no mean feat when it involves 7.5x15 metres of fine, delicate fabric! We started at 6:30pm and finally managed to get the fabric dry and folded at 2:30am, thanks to an army of heaters, dehumidifiers and fans; not to mention our fantastic helpers Almudena Romero, and Josefina Isaza. Once the fabric was finally dry and light-sensitive, we could roll it up, pack it in black bags, and go get some much needed sleep! 

Soaking the fabric in light-sensitive cyanotype chemistry

The soaked fabric, ready to hang

Hanging in the vestibule of St John on Bethnal Green Church

On Saturday 2nd May, we set off for Malet Place, where the Wellcome Trust and UCL were co-hosting a street party for On Light. It was a cloudy but bright day, and we hoped the weather would hold up as any rain would have made our plans impossible.

At 1:40pm, with a large group of excited participants, we unrolled the huge fabric on the ground and instructed our audience to grab a few circular object from our selection, place them in the centre of the fabric, and lie down around the edges of the fabric. They all willingly obliged and lay still for 20 minutes while the fabric slowly changed from lemon-yellow to dark greenish blue, and finally to a lighter khaki colour. Where our circular objects and peoples’ bodies were blocking the light, the fabric remained unexposed.

The light-sensitive fabric rolled out and ready to expose 

Our human ‘negatives’ in position

Once this khaki colour appeared in the exposed areas, we knew the exposure was done, so we asked our participants to quickly grab all the circular objects and run to the edges of the patio so we could roll up the fabric and move on to the next stage.

Exposure finished, participants rush to remove objects from the fabric  

Processing cyanotypes is quite simple - the unexposed chemistry is simply rinsed off with water. However, when you have a 7.5x15m piece of fabric, nothing is simple! It took around 20 minutes of washing, and several changes of water, to rinse out our cyanotype, after which we could spread it back out on the ground to dry, and give a huge sigh of relief that everything had gone according to plan!

Washing the cyanotype  - image ©Mike Crawford

Laying the processed cyanotype out to dry

Some details from the finished cyanotype

The Ultraviolet Team!  - image ©Mike Crawford

Thanks 

To the Wellcome Collection and UCL teams - especially our primary contacts Lizzy and Emily - for making this crazy idea possible and supporting us throughout every phase of the project!

To all the people who participated and formed part of the image.

To our wonderful helpers Hollie Quinn, Almudena Romero, Francesca Polo, and Josefina Isaza. 

To St John on Bethnal Green Church, who allowed us to use the church vestibule to sensitise the fabric - it was the only space big enough! 

To Chloe McKinney for doing such a brilliant job sewing the fabric together. 

To all our friends who came along to support us - Sheila, Mike, Daniel, Christina, Vivian, Ky, Jesse, Erin, Asya, and everybody else who came along - we couldn’t have done it without you! 

As part of the 'On Light' event organised by the Wellcome Collection, Constanza Isaza Martínez, Andrés Pantoja, and Melanie King will be making a record-breaking attempt to create the world's largest cyanotype.

Jamil Azzaini mengajarkanku untuk mengonsepkan mimpi dengan begitu jelas melalui bukunya yang berjudul "ON"  (lupa mau nulis apa)

Entahlah, akhir-akhir ini aku ngerasa frustasi banget. Padahal yang namanya kehilangan kan wajar yak? Kita semua milik Allah,, dan pasti juga akan kembali pada Allah...wajar.. sekali lagi wajar.. ah mungkin aku yang terlalu ngerasa  rapuh,,,

Anggri. maaf yaa aku kmrn nggak sms kamu. Kemarin kan habis shalat dhuha pagi-pagi. Baru aja mencapai target. Eh aku dielfon bapak, bapak ngasih tau kalokakekku meninggal. Ya udah yaah ujian taksonomi tumbuhan aku tinggalin, maaf ya kalo sms kamu lama dijawab. aku lagi agak ribet. Ribet di pikiran.. ribet ngurus ujian susulan..

Hmm.. belum bisa belajar 100% masuk otak sii, ujung-ujungnya wi fian, dan nulis gaje. Aku ngerasa gimanaaaa gitu.. lagi nggak punya banyak kata yang ditulis.. kadang tuh sempet tanya sama Allah, "Ya Allah.. apa aku sekuat ini? kenapa cobaanku seberat ini??"

Hmm.. Allah lebih tau kok, aku lebih kuat dari yang aku kira.. itu kalimat aku dapet dari buku favoritnya mba warni yang judulnya pemulihan jiwa. Bukunya masih di Edaa.. edaaaa.. balikin pemulihan jiwa sama money magnetku!! hehehe.... Mba Warrr, jiwa ini lagi butuh dipulihkan nih.. kangen curhat sama mba war, kangen dimarahin mba war :D