Dr. Daro Montag

"Dr. Daro Montag creates art using a variety of living organisms, including microbes, plants, toads, and worms. This series, from his catalogue Bioglyphs, shows works created by placing fruit on film and allowing it to be consumed by microorganisms before producing prints from the film. The result is a spectacular series of images that appear as much cosmological as they do biological".

I was intrudecede to this artist whom I haven't looked into much before. His images are created by using film and allowing the film to be tainted by objects and then creating prints from these rolls. This has given me and idea to try and create a piece of work in which I can show the physical destruction of chemicals that are being allowed to be used in the destruction of bee populations and environments.

There are many similarities in mine and Daros work, we both have used a physical object to interfere with the traditional dark room process, we also are inspired by nature and the properties nature can bring to an image. In the work below Daro has allowed a worm to tamper with the film which has created an imprint of the animal itself. But due to the use of colour we are almost led in a different direction and the part in creating the image the worm had is over shadowed by the dramatic brightness of the red in the image. The image leads to to explore the properties of the image, line, colour, form rather than a reason behind the image not allowing you to inform yourself on a level of biological or conservation importance, but is drawing its strength from its ambiguity. I have not wanted to explore colour before due to this very reason. I feel there could be a place for colour in my work, not to the degree of Daros images, but to more further highlight areas of importance within my images or hidden meaning behind a certain colour. ( look at colour theory).

Note to self- Create an image in the darkroom ( same process) leave image in tainted water for certain periods of time to see what effect it has on the paper. Also maybe look at printing on to bio materials such as flower petals or something bee related, hive ? honeycomb ?.

The image above shows a piece inspired by the colour in Daros work. I think the use of colour elaborates certain points of interest whilst adding another dimension to my imagery. I need to take this further because the way I am writing the images is loosing some detail, I need to explore if loosing detail is true to the brief I set myself or if its something that needs to be developed on. I am intrigued by colour directing a viewer to view the images in a certain way, I need to look at Ansel Adams golden ratio paper to give dictation to the viewing structure of my ima