Carbon Obscura
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Initially conceived in 2007 for an installation in the greenhouse at Montsalvat as part of Structure Place and Space curated by Tony Tembath the work enchanted the audience and various versions followed.
In this series of works, Godman created darkened spaces and materialized animated images of trees in the dark interior by piercing thousands of tiny pinholes into the opaque membrane that keeps the light out. But the pinholes allow light to leak in. Each pierced opening acted as a pinhole camera and not only allowed light to penetrate the space but also projections from the world outside. These were interactive installations where the audience triggered a fog generator as they entered a darkened space and fog filled the space with rays of light streaming through the waves of mist. The artist constructed various versions of the Carbon Obscuras in France, Morwell, Canberra, and Federation Square in Melbourne. Carbon Obscura was a key aspect to part of the Sustainability Festival at Kernot Hall, Morwell, Victoria in 2008, a major part of VIVID the National Photography Festival 2008 in Canberra, and a centrepiece of ReGenerating Community Arts, Community and Governance National Conference 2009 in Melbourne.
The concept behind the work lies in the process of trees using light and photosynthesis to capture carbon. With the audience triggering the fog generator, it suggests we are responsible for our emissions.
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With an extensive background in experimental photography, it is not surprising that Lloyd Godman had a fascination with the essential element of the medium; light. In 2007 Julie Millowick described him as; “The lateral thinker of Australasian photography”
Godman established and was head of the photographic section at the Dunedin School of Art for 20 year before teaching at RMIT University in Melbourne for a further 9 years. He has had over 40 solo exhibitions and been in over 250 group exhibitions.
The series of Carbon Obscura series evolved from this fascination and experimentation of light as an ephemeral medium. On one hand the Carbon Obscura abandons the conventional application of the camera and directly plays with modulations of light and darkness as a form of ephemeral drawing but then, on the other, it also invites the audience to step inside a darkened chamber that is a multiplicity of cameras with thousands of pinhole apertures each projecting a unique image.
