Perspective: Ben Johnson
In his painting of the library at the Convento di San Marco, Florence, Ben
Johnson is using single-point perspective. He is able to do so because he
faces the room 'square-on' and the vanishing point is in the middle of the
picture. the artist has deliberately avoided complicating the composition by
ignoring the fact that the vertical columns would appear to converge as they
rise above our eye-line. If it had been necessary to include this, he would
have needed to construct a second vanishing point some distance above the
top of the picture.
Although this may appear to be a straight forward transcription of the
space, Johnson has in fact composed the scene by combining photographs taken
from several different viewpoints, together with computer generated graphics
derived from the architectural plans. For Johnson, combining photography
with computer imagery is the modern equivalent of the camera obscura, and
similarly reduces the three-dimensional reality into a two-dimensional image
which can then be transferred directly to the canvas. Although the final
scene is a fiction, the artist has tried to find the perfect - if imaginary
- viewpoint; the point from which the hidden geometry of the building is
revealed.
some years ago, hyperrealists painters were used to use a simple slide
(color or b&W) projected on a canvas to copy the forms exactly, at the
required size obtained by adjusting the distance.
Ben Johnson use probably just a more sophisticated equipment.
(Medieval or renaissance painters used well before a squared grille placed
between their eyes and their subject to re-produce such with an acceptable
result.
their squared pixels were big, but their pincels excellent...)
Coud your friend Ben be a kind of (good) re-enacter as was Dali re-painting
the last scene?
As he probably re-paints a computerized image showed on his workshop wall.
Ask him , eventually, if by chance he uses such a digitally elaborated and
projected image on his canvas, and if not ,how he does his technical, quite
magical , interesting "trick" ( if it's not a secret matter...)
Patrice
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