Roger Bays

Home

2017-03-30T17:50:00.028+13:00

I work in several disciplines including visual art, photography, videography, film-making, writing, and design. All are linked by the commonalities of creativity and design.

One of the most rewarding roles is that of street photographer. Street photography enables me to travel the world, interact with new environments, and meet interesting people. The photograph below, taken in San Fransisco in 2007, gives you an example of what makes street photography so interesting.

If you scroll down this page you will find links to some of the sites highlights.

Man waiting for bus

Please feel free to explore this site. Below is a list of some of the highlights.

Find out about the award winning augmented reality installation titled Semaphore here. Watch the TV3 news story, about the Semaphore project here.

Semaphore installation in COCA gallery

Semaphore installation in COCA gallery

Semaphore installation in COCA gallery

View street photography images from Asia here.

Woman walking in India

Catch-up on the latest news here.

A Monoscopic Vision of YOU

Take part in an interactive online work V1 Brodmann Area 17 here.

V1 Brodmann Area 17

Watch a short film titled 'Miss the Boat' here.

Miss the Boat

Test Zone

2017-03-29T11:13:00.000+13:00

This space is for testing HTML coding. It is not of much interest unless you want to help troubleshoot HTML coding issues.

Use the navigation menu, on the right, to find more interesting pages.

Regards,
Roger

test mp3

2011-04-07T09:37:00.005+12:00

Test

end

Customer feedback

2008-05-10T09:12:00.002+12:00

Hannah Riden
"I contracted Roger to photograph one of my paintings for publication in a calendar, and he did a fine job at very short notice. The photograph was very clear, with excellent resolution and colour matching. Thank you Roger!"

A monoscopic vision of YOU

2008-03-12T13:03:00.005+13:00

22nd February 2008
Accepting an open call, for participation in A Geekosystem initiated by Adam Hyde and Julian Priest at The Physics Room in February 2008, led to the creation of A Monoscopic Vision of YOU. The event generated a ludic space where participants were actively engaged in the creative process. In keeping with geekdom, the sculpture A Monoscopic Vision of YOU was created from an out-of-date and second hand View Master stereoscopic viewer; other materials included a found photograph with marks, tape, and paper.

A Monoscopic Vision of YOU

Semaphore project - full conceptual story

2008-02-13T12:50:00.000+13:00

1.0 The visual art concept
The semaphore installation was born from a desire to work with augmented reality technology, therefore, the medium was the primary driver for the work. This driver was based on my interest in bringing new technologies into the visual art arena, with a view to providing novel experiences for the art viewer, and thereby enhancing the art viewers overall experience. A secondary driver was my interest in creating works that are experiential, where the art viewer can interact with the work. The third driver was my interest in creating works with fully immersive environments.

1.1 The primary concept
With the use of AR technology decided, the decision as to what the work would be, was then addressed. I decided that because the primary driver was related to the use of AR technology, it would be interesting to incorporate this driver into the overall art concept. This decision led to an investigation to find what the essence/s of augmented reality technology might be.

Augmented reality offers the affordance to overlay virtual content on top of the real world, in real time. There are several methods to position the virtual content in relation to the real world. And one method is to use visual markers. Besides offering positional information, markers offer the affordance of virtual object designation, different markers can cause different virtual content to appear. It is the second affordance that led me to the realisation that markers are in essence a flag. Markers and flags have commonalities, both are used to convey coded messages using light as the medium.

I felt that the use of flags could be incorporated into the design concept, so I went on to investigate the historical use of flags, which fairly quickly led to military applications. I then recollected an old memory about flags being used to transmit the time of day between cities, in England. Further research led to the discovery of the shutter telegraph that was used between the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century.

A shutter telegraph tower, showing six mechanical flags - image from 'The Semaphore' by T.W. Holmes.

The shutter telegraph was used to transmit coded messages between towns and cities in the south of England, much faster than a relay of riders on horseback, they were essential as a military tool. Shutter towers could warn the Admiralty, London of an oncoming invasion, via the English Channel or the southern part of the North Sea. Day to day they were used to transmit messages between a selection of towns and cities, and acted as a chronograph.

The Admiralty London Shutter Telegraph System - map based on information from 'The Old Telegraphs' Geoffrey Wilson, 'The Semaphore' by T.W. Holmes, 'Military Signals from the South Coast' by John Goodwin, Paul Taylor (Curator of Chatley Heath Semaphore Tower, Chatley, England).

The discovery of the historic shutter telegraph was most fortunate because there turned out to be a striking visual resemblance between the historic mechanical flags/panels and current day augmented reality markers; both are black and white, and square in shape.

Original shutter telegraph mechanical flag

Typical augmented reality marker designs

Finding this coincidence intriguing I decided to build three shutter telegraph towers as an art installation. The following concepts then followed.

1.2 The concept behind the headset
Three shutter telegraph towers would be built, enabling the art viewer to position themselves at the central tower, as if they were the 'glass' man.

Traditionally the 'glass' man would:

look up and down the shutter tower line with a telescope, at frequent intervals, to see if a message needed to be relayed to an adjacent tower
pass on those messages verbally to the 'rope' man at his station, who would then operate the shutters
check that the message his 'rope' man had sent, had been correctly received by the next tower, by looking down the line to see what message they passed on to the next tower

The art viewer, instead of using a telescope, would don a virtual reality headset, thereby allowing the headset to act as a metaphor for the traditional telescope. A headset was also chosen, instead of a computer vdu because it would give the art viewer an immersive experience.

Art viewer wearing the virtual reality headset

1.3 The concept behind the tower markers
Initially I envisaged that each tower would have six double sided panels/markers, as per the original design, with the marks on each panel staying true to that design. This would mean that all the six panels on each tower would be identical.

Original shutter tower mechanical flag

However, constraints of AR toolkit technology required that each panel had to be visually different, so that the technology would operate robustly. This presented a design dilemma. A solution was found by superimposing minor additional marks onto the panels. Designing marks that would referenced the semaphore telegraph system, a technology that superceded the shutter telegraph enabled me to keep to my intention to stay true to historic designs.

Note:
The project name semaphore was chosen because the word relates to communication, not because of these marks.

Semaphore tower from 'The Semaphore' by T.W. Holmes

The final design of the installations tower markers

1.4 The concept behind the 3D virtual content of the tower markers
The tower panels would trigger virtual content. I decided three things about this content.

The virtual content would:

represent the transmission of data from one tower to another
reference what it actually being transmitted in real life, photons
be created from 3D objects

To represent data I decided to use binary code, and because I wanted to use 3D objects I decided to use a torus shape to represent 0's and a pill capsule shape to represent 1's. I symbolised photons through the use of white and energetic vibrant colours.

3D virtual content representing binary data in transmission

1.5 The concept behind the materials on the gallery floor
I decided that the gallery floor space between the towers would represent the terrain between the original shutter towers.

To this end I used:

compost & gravel to represent the earth (when this installation tours overseas these materials will be sourced locally)
thirty six acrylic panels with felt contour lines represent a contour map of the land between the shutter towers and suggests that the towers were predominately built on hilltops. The two centre rows of six panels would also act as markers.

Panels on floor, with some acting as markers

1.6 The concept behind the 2D virtual content on the gallery floor
The virtual content for the floor markers would be 2D animations that symbolise the green fields of England. Green in colour these animations would oscillate back and forth, thereby showing the perspective from the point of view of a photon bouncing back and forth between the shutter towers. Two identical animations would run, one between the left tower and the central tower, and another between the central and right hand tower. During the build I choose to use six long narrow identical animations running simultaneously, rather than one wide animation. This was to prevent the art viewer from losing a point of reference to the real world, which might cause them to fall of feel nauseous.

2D virtual content of the floor markers representing the lush green fields of England

Prototype model of the installation

2007-07-08T20:28:00.001+12:00

A small scale model was made to test the marker design against the capabilities of the marker identification technology, and to test the software against the vision of what was was supposed to happen to the virtual content. Once the marker design and software design was working, the project was scaled up to full size.

The full size installation is 10 metres in length and two metres wide.

Semaphore installation shown on TV3 news

2007-06-30T18:57:00.002+12:00

19th June 2007
The semaphore installation was shown on TV3 news. To watch the news story go to this TV3 news webpage to watch it.

Semaphore installation wins 'The Press peoples choice award'

2007-06-30T18:42:00.001+12:00

15th June 2007
The Semaphore installation, which was recently accepted into the Anthony Harper competition, currently showing at COCA (Centre of Contemporary Art), Christchurch, New Zealand, has won 'The Press peoples choice award.' The award is offered by The Press newspaper to the artist of the work that receives the most votes from gallery viewers. Sixty six artists from around New Zealand competed in the competition.

Many thanks to HITLab New Zealand, at Canterbury University, for their collaborative support and expertise.

Semaphore installation in COCA gallery

Gallery visitor looking at the virtual content

Gallery viewer looking at the virtual content

View through the augmented reality headset

Gallery visitor looking at the virtual content

Watch this video to discover what you would see through the augmented reality headset.

Semaphore installation accepted into the Anthony Harper competition

2007-05-21T12:25:00.000+12:00

The Semaphore augmented reality installation has been accepted into the Anthony Harper competition. The work will be exhibited at COCA (Centre of Contemporary Art) from 30th May - 16th June 2007.
Times
Monday gallery closed.
Tuesday - Friday 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Saturday - Sunday 12:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Location
COCA
66 Gloucester St,
Christchurch,
New Zealand.

Commercial photography

2007-04-06T20:04:00.000+12:00

Need a photograph to advertise your product or service?
Need a photographer with an aesthetic eye?
Need a photographer who can travel anywhere worldwide?

+64 3 669 0558
+64 21 778 273

Portrait photography

2007-04-06T19:56:00.000+12:00

Need a portrait that reflects who you are?
I specialise in portraits that document people in relation to their environment.

+64 3 669 0558
+64 21 778 273

V1 brodmann area 17 project

2007-03-31T19:00:00.005+12:00

You can still participate, even though the live event has taken place.

Information about the project and what to do is below.

If you know what to do, click here to go to the first of the twenty four posts.

Explanation of the work
The V1 Brodmann Area 17 project is an interactive online work. The work is based on the concept of using your minds eye as the canvas for the work.

The area of the brain that will be activated during the project is know as V1 or Brodmann Area 17.

There are three parts to the work:

having the experience in your minds eye
writing and publishing your comments about your experience, at the end of each post
reading other peoples comments about their experience

Over a six hour time span I will be writing and recording descriptions to stimulate your minds eye. After each one is created it will be posted (published) below. I am expecting that about 24 posts will be created during the six hours.

What do I have to do?
There are three ways you can interact with this project.

You are invited to read or listen to each post and let your minds eye create the images. Closing your eyes may help. You will need to refresh this page every fifteen minutes or so, to get new posts.
After reading or listening to a post click on the 'Post a Comment' hypertext near the bottom of the post and write about your experience. If you are having trouble finding words to describe your experience, a suggestion is to try starting the sentence with something like 'When I read/listened to the description I visualised that. . .' If you want to comment about the project as a whole, or your overall experience of the project can you do that at a separate location on the feedback page.
Read other peoples comments about their experience.

When is V1 Brodmann Area 17 being created?
The work will be created over a six hour duration. I will start working on the first post 15 minutes before the official start time, so you don't have to wait for the first post. If you cannot make the event you can view, make comments, and read comments at a later date, but I would like to encourage you to take part during the projects conception.

The project will commence on:

8th April 2007 at 6.00 p.m. NZST (New Zealand Standard Time)
8th April 2007 at 7.00 a.m. BST (British Summer Time)
8th April 2007 at 6.00 a.m. UTC (Coordinated Universal Time)
8th April 2007 at 2.00 a.m. EDT (USA Eastern Daylight Time)
8th April 2007 at 1.00 a.m. CDT (USA Central Daylight Time)
8th April 2007 at 12.00 midnight. MDT (USA Mountain Daylight Time)
7th April 2007 at 11.00 p.m. PDT (USA Pacific Daylight Time)

To find the time of this event in your part of the world click here.

How do I use the audio player?
Note: Below is an image of the audio player, so it does not function.

If the sound track stops and starts, wait for it to download then play it again.

To play (the first time) - left click the play icon.
To replay - left click the play icon.
To stop - left click the stop icon.
To pause - left click the pause icon.
To adjust the volume - left click and hold over the volume slider, reposition slider and release.
To listen to a different part of the track - left click and hold over the audio track position slider, reposition slider and release.

V1 brodmann area 17 project - post 24

2007-03-31T17:24:00.001+12:00

Symbols and stories dance through the midnight air.

Previous Post _____ V1 Brodmann Area 17

V1 brodmann area 17 project - post 23

2007-03-31T17:23:00.001+12:00

The staircase climbs upward, upward, upward. After the climb you find yourself at the bottom, ready to climb again.

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V1 brodmann area 17 project - post 22

2007-03-31T17:22:00.001+12:00

The colours seem watered down, almost transparent.

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V1 brodmann area 17 project - post 21

2007-03-31T17:21:00.001+12:00

You read the classifieds and see a bed for sale, you buy it as an investment.

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V1 brodmann area 17 project - post 20

2007-03-31T17:20:00.001+12:00

You are stuck in a cage surrounded by sharks.

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V1 brodmann area 17 project - post 19

2007-03-31T17:19:00.001+12:00

You used the cube square law to measure the proportions of people no larger than a few centimeters tall.

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V1 brodmann area 17 project - post 18

2007-03-31T17:18:00.001+12:00

Benday rockets blaze through a newsprint sky.

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V1 brodmann area 17 project - post 17

2007-03-31T17:17:00.001+12:00

You are inside a factory that manufactures tomato soup. You look at the silver cans stacked high, and notice that the cans form the walls of the building.

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V1 brodmann area 17 project - post 16

2007-03-31T17:16:00.001+12:00

You see see all the merry-go-rounds of the world simultaneously, their visual cacophony appears as an artwork.

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V1 brodmann area 17 project - post 15

2007-03-31T17:15:00.001+12:00

You can choose any object to become a satellite that will orbit the Earth.

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V1 brodmann area 17 project - post 14

2007-03-31T17:14:00.002+12:00

He looked down at the keyboard and read words, not letters. It was as if the keyboard could talk.

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V1 brodmann area 17 project - post 13

2007-03-31T17:13:00.001+12:00

The number thirteen induced superstitious fears, concretised in childhood. They were as hard to eradicate from his consciousness, as his unwanted belief in God.

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V1 brodmann area 17 project - post 12

2007-03-31T17:12:00.001+12:00

The soon to be cubist looked over the shoulder of the engineer and found the orthographic projection of the bridge to be most pleasing.

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V1 brodmann area 17 project - post 11

2007-03-31T17:11:00.001+12:00

The black outline describes the shape. The black shading mutates into grey, as does the red into orange. In some places the orange is adjacent to the black.

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V1 brodmann area 17 project - post 10

2007-03-31T17:10:00.003+12:00

You are inside the Easter egg, waiting to hatch. The sky outside is blue. But, inside the egg, things are very black. The chocolate is so thick that you cannot possibly escape. You claw at the interior of the egg, but to no avail. Meanwhile the man sits in a deckchair.

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V1 brodmann area 17 project - post 09

2007-03-31T17:09:00.001+12:00

It is your pie chart divided the way you want it to be.

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V1 brodmann area 17 project - post 08

2007-03-31T17:08:00.001+12:00

Yellow.

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V1 brodmann area 17 project - post 07

2007-03-31T17:07:00.001+12:00

The chequered cloak wrapped itself around the body so tightly that the pattern did not know which way to go. Confused it twisted, warped, pulled, and tugged at itself losing its own identity and integrity.

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V1 brodmann area 17 project - post 06

2007-03-31T17:06:00.001+12:00

As the swans floated in front of the branches the elephants appeared without a sound. The swans did not even notice the intrusion of these large creatures, into their world.

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V1 brodmann area 17 project - post 05

2007-03-31T17:05:00.001+12:00

The countdown has begun; ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.

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V1 brodmann area 17 project - post 04

2007-03-31T17:04:00.002+12:00

The nose of the Great Sphinx is missing. You are one kilometer away from the Sphinx and kick a piece of carved rock, lying on the ground. You turn over the rock and look at its shape. The shape resembles a nose.

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V1 brodmann area 17 project - post 03

2007-03-31T17:03:00.001+12:00

The line from the apex of the triangle extends downward, until it reaches the triangle's base line, this is distance (x). The line continues downward a distance of 3(x), to the point where it meets with a toy car. The occupants of the car are talking, you cannot hear what they are saying, but you sense that it is something to do with the line and the triangle.

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V1 brodmann area 17 project - post 02

2007-03-31T17:02:00.001+12:00

You are but a few centimetres tall, you look out upon your new world.

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V1 brodmann area 17 project - post 01

2007-03-31T17:01:00.014+12:00

The Earth has been cut in half and you, along with millions of others, are able to witness the core for the very first time.

V1 Brodmann Area 17 _____ Next Post

V1 brodmann area 17 project - technical problems

2007-03-31T16:00:00.000+12:00

If you encounter a technical problem:

Read the COMMENTS below, to see if somebody else has already commented on it.
If you are the first to discover the problem, please leave a COMMENT to notify other participants and myself.

I will attempt to fix the problem as soon as I can.

To find out if a problem has been fixed read 'PROBLEM FIXES' below.

PROBLEM FIXES

comments not available at post 06 - fixed

V1 brodmann area 17 project - feedback

2007-03-31T15:00:00.001+12:00

This space is for anybody that wants to comment about the project as a whole. Please don't leave comments here about what you visualised in your minds eye, do that at the relevant post. Thanks.

Flight patterns

2007-03-26T16:19:00.000+12:00

I have just finished filming 'Flight Patterns' under the direction of Lucette Hindin. 'Flight Patterns' was a theatre production that recently took place in a soon to be demolished house in Lyttleton, New Zealand. Flight Patterns takes an idiosyncratic exploration into relationships, love, and the acts of love making.
Flight Patterns was directed by Lucette Hindin from 'the clinic' Christchurch, New Zealand.

For more information go to www.theclinic.co.nz and/or www.laverne-laverne.blogspot.com.

The semaphore project

2007-03-13T15:10:00.000+13:00

The semaphore project is a fully immersive interactive installation that draws on the shutter tower concept, which uses coded data and light to communicate information.

The installation utilises a new visual computer technology called augmented reality. This technology has been made available through collaboration with the HITLabNZ (Human Interface Technology Laboratory, New Zealand www.hitlabnz.org), at the University of Canterbury. The HITLabNZ is directed by Dr Mark Billinghurst. Dr Raphael Grasset worked closely with me, to facilitate the implementation of this technology.

The artwork consists of three shutter towers, a large central tower and two smaller towers, which together represent a visual telegraph line. Each tower balances on a hemispherical cage, loaded with rocks for ballast.Acrylic contour maps between the towers represent the terrain between the towers.
The installation includes a computer and virtual reality headset with camera.

The audience experiences the installation by donning a virtual reality headset. This allows them to enter into a fully immersive environment. Once in the environment they experience a mixed reality world. They see the real world e.g. the installation and people in the gallery; and virtual objects that do not belong in the real world, at the same time.

What is augmented reality?

2007-03-13T15:04:00.000+13:00

Explaining augmented reality is somewhat difficult because it sits outside most peoples realm of experience. It takes a careful explanation and a little imagination to understand it.

Augmented reality is a type of virtual reality, but is different in that the observer can see the physical world around them and virtual objects (that only exist in a computer) at the same time. It is this fact that makes it so visually interesting. You can be looking at a room full of people, at a gallery opening, and amongst them see a virtual object (for example a 3D animated giraffe) that does not belong in the room. Augmented reality technology seamlessly melds the real world and a virtual world together.

For an audience member to see the physical world around them and virtual objects at the same time they need to don a virtual reality headset. The headset is quite simple with a tiny camera on the front and two tiny computer screens, the size of postage stamps, inside. The camera acts as the wearers eyes. And the two tiny computer screens enable the wearer to see the real world around them.

But the question remains; how do we get our giraffe or some art content to appear?

Well, in the gallery there needs to be a marker. The marker can simply be a sheet of A4 paper with a special symbol drawn on it that the computer will recognise. When the wearer of the virtual reality headset points the camera at the marker the computer recognises the symbol and carries out its pre-programmed instruction to show replacement data (usually on top of the marker). Hence, like magic, our giraffe appears amongst the real world on the computer screens of the virtual reality headset!

How the art concept for the semaphore project came about

2007-03-13T15:02:00.000+13:00

I have been interested in augmented reality for several years and wanted to create an artwork that utilised this technology. At this point I did not know that an exciting coincidence would unfold.

I wanted to carefully interweave the concepts behind the technology itself into the overall art concept, so as a starting point I investigated what the technology was actually doing. I concluded that augmented reality is essentially a signaling device, and that there are direct parallels between this technology and more traditional signaling devices like flags. Augmented reality uses visual markers, which have similar properties to flags. Flags are used to send messages between people. Augmented reality technology enables individuals to signal a message (by using a visual marker) to a computer. The computer decodes the message and gives a pre-programmed response, which can be viewed by an observer.

Typical augmented reality markers

This line of exploration led to the recollection of an old memory about historic signaling devices used in England, to convey messages between cities. Researching signaling devices led to the discovery of shutter towers. Shutter towers are large mechanical flags, and when used in series form a visual telegraph line as a means of long distance communication. It was at this point that an amazing coincidence revealed itself. The mechanical flags used in the historic shutter towers (see below) are virtually identical to the visual markers being used in augmented research establishments around the world today (see above). Both are square, both are black and white, both have a wide black border, and both have a white centre.

Shutter tower mechanical flag

Enthralled by the discovery I knew I had found an interesting and intriguing way to forge together the art and technology concepts through the common ground of signaling.

A brief history of shutter towers

2007-03-13T15:01:00.000+13:00

Shutter towers are mechanical signalling devices. When combined in a line, they make up a visual telegraph system that can convey messages over long distances. Shutter towers were used to convey information, including the time of day, between cities.

Visual telegraph systems were first developed in France by Claude Chappe and his four brothers, they were soon utilised and adapted by the British into shutter towers that use six black and white mechanical flags.

Shutter tower (image source unknown)

Shutter towers were used, in England, during the late 1700’s and the early 1800’s.

The British admiralty used shutter towers to communicate between:

The Admiralty, London and The Glacis, Portsmouth (which opened in 1796)
The Admiralty, London and Sheerness, and Deal (which opened in 1795)
The Admiralty London and Great Yarmouth (which opened in 1808).

The Admiralty London shutter telegraph system

The Admiralty London shutter telegraph system consisted of 63 shutter tower stations. Interestingly, the number of different signals that can be conveyed using a six panel shutter tower is also 63.

On a clear day information could be conveyed at speeds between 3000 and 7200 kilometres per hour, depending on the distances between towers. The towers were, at worst, 300 times faster than a relay of riders on horseback. However, the towers were very costly to run, and were eventually surpassed by semaphore towers, and later the electric telegraph.

Further reading
The Semaphore
By T.W. Holmes
Published by Arthur H Stockwell Ltd, Elms Court, Ilfracombe, Devon, England.
ISBN 0 7223 1629 1

Military Signals from the South Coast
By John Goodwin
Published by Middleton Press, Easebourne Lane, Midhurst, West Sussex, GU29 9AZ England.
ISBN 1 901706 54 0

The Story of Chatley Heath Tower
By John & Beryl Skelly
Published by Surrey County Council, England

Send it by Semaphore (the old telegraph during the wars with France)
By Howard Mallinson
Crowood Press, Ramsbury, Wiltshire, SN8 2HR, England
ISBN 1 86126 734 7

The Old Telegraphs
By Geoffrey Wilson
Published by Phillimore & Co Ltc, Shopwyke Hall, Chichester, England
ISBN 0 900592 79 6

White

2007-02-12T21:54:00.000+13:00

During 1989-90 I worked for British Antarctic Survey, guiding scientists to remote locations of Antarctica. The nine month trip involved sailing from Grimsby England, heading down the West coast of Africa, the East coast of South America, before crossing Drakes Passage - the last leg of the journey before reaching the Antarctic Peninsula. The time spent in Antarctica was most memorable. I am currently going back over old photographs and working with those images and memories. More images will be added to this page at a later date.

Coastline of a face

2007-02-06T17:31:00.000+13:00

These images were created from a photograph that I shot of New Zealand artist Sally Hope, in Rossland, British Columbia, Canada.

The gogs

2007-01-02T16:03:00.000+13:00

The Gogs is a collaborative project. It is co-written by Jane Bradbury and myself, and animated by John Newcombe.

The Gogs is a comical series about a group of eccentric hills who uproot themselves from their surrounding landscape and head off on a variety of bumbling, havoc-strewn, bewildering adventures.

The Gogs was first published as an online story in 2000. I took it off the internet after we lost ownership of the original website URL. But I have just republished it as a blog this year (2007).

Pop along to The Gogs and delve into their cockeyed world.

Semaphore installation goes to denmark

2006-12-24T13:15:00.000+13:00

The new media installation titled Semaphore mixes the worlds of virtual reality with reality. The Semaphore installation will be exhibited at the 17th International Conference of Artificial Reality and Telexistence (ICAT 2007) that is being run in conjunction with ArtAbilitation Conference in Denmark, 28-30th November 2007.

Find out more about ICAT 2007 and ArtAbilitation conferences at: www.icat2007.org.

Semaphore project thanks (to-date)

2006-12-23T16:50:00.000+13:00

To make the Semaphore project possible I have need the help from many people.

I would like to give my many thanks to the following people:

Dr Mark Billinghurst (Head of HITlabNZ Canterbury University, New Zealand)
Dr Raphael Grasset (HITlabNZ Canterbury University, New Zealand)
Hartmut Seichter (HITlabNZ Canterbury University, New Zealand)
Professor Tony Brooks (Aalborg University Denmark)
Professor Desmond Rochfort (Head of Fine Art, Canterbury University, New Zealand)
Paul Taylor (Curator of Chatley Heath Semaphore Tower, England)
Tim Stankus (Royal Signals Museum, Blanford Camp, Dorset, England)
Richard Taylor
Jane Zusters

A trip to the fair

2006-12-22T13:16:00.000+13:00

These images are a study of the fairground that accompanies the annual firework display at Brighton Pier, Christchurch, New Zealand. The images were shot on the evening of November 5th 2006.

Miss the boat on youtube

2006-12-13T12:59:00.000+13:00

'Miss the Boat' has just been published on YouTube.com.

'Miss the Boat' is a comedy about a young woman Maggie and her attempt to prevent her drunk brother Jimmy, a ship hand, from missing his ship to Guatemala. However, life is never simple. Maggie encounters more than her fair share of bad luck, and has to fight off the unwanted passions of the almost comatose, if not delusional, Jimmy, en route.

Faces of asia

2006-09-10T15:39:00.000+12:00

Below you can view twelve documentary images that I shot on my recent visit to Hong Kong, China, and India.

Trip to asia

2006-09-10T12:51:00.000+12:00

I have recently returned from a documentary photography trip to Hong Kong, China, and India.

To view a selection of twelve images from that trip click here.

Da vinci machines

2006-03-20T12:44:00.000+12:00

In March 2006 I visited Auckland Museum, New Zealand to photograph the international exhibition titled 'The da Vinci Machines.' 50 models, built by Florentine artisans from the drawings of Leonardo da Vinci, were on show. I orchestrated this photographic project because I was intrigued that the 2D drawings of da Vinci had finally been constructed into 3D objects. My vision was to photograph these models, so as to take them back into the 2D realm, from whence they came. I am currently creating artworks from the photographic images that I shot. Below are a few examples of images that I am working on. Many thanks to Auckland Museum, for their co-operation in enabling me to photograph the machines.

Miss the boat

2006-02-07T12:43:00.000+13:00

The last six weeks have been spent writing, directing, filming, and editing a short film titled 'Miss the Boat'. The film is being entered into the Moonlight Shorts Competition

Miss the Boat

'Miss the Boat' is a comedy about a young woman Maggie and her attempt to prevent her drunk brother Jimmy, a ship hand, from missing his ship to Guatemala. However, life is never simple. Maggie encounters more than her fair share of bad luck, and has to fight off the unwanted passions of the almost comatose, if not delusional, Jimmy, en route.

Artists help 'the kids help foundation trust'

2005-10-12T12:42:00.000+13:00

Artworks entered into the White Pages Art Award are now being sold to raise funds for The Kids Help Foundation Trust. The Kids Help Foundation Trust offers a telephone counselling service, called 'What's Up', for children and young people www.WhatsUp.co.nz.

Gallery Beacon

Gallery Beacon was entred into the Christchurch White Pages Art Award, so pop along to www.WhitePages.co.nz and place a bid. And remember to be generous, 100% of what you bid goes to The Kids Help Foundation Trust.

Hey presto

2005-10-01T12:40:00.000+12:00

Presto magazine have used 'Swimmer' for the front cover of their October 2005 edition. If you pick up a copy checkout the inside for additional images.

Swimmer

Help fight cataract blindness

2005-09-01T11:48:00.000+12:00

The Fred Hollows Foundation does a fantastic job of restoring sight to people suffering from cataract blindness. They state 'all it takes is a relatively simple operation, which costs as little as $25 in some developing countries.'

With a newsletter titled Optic Nerve it seemed appropriate to help out; so 10% of monies received from artwork sales during 2005 and 2006 from Optic Nerve readers will go to The Fred Hollows Foundation.

Next year, with their cooperation, I am hoping to visit one of their hospitals in India or Nepal, and document some of the work being done there.

If you want to donate to the charity of your own accord, or find out more about the great job they are doing pop along to www.Hollows.org.nz.

Art meets the ariel atom

2005-08-15T11:29:00.000+12:00

I recently got to drive, and be driven, around Ruapuna race track in an Ariel Atom. Interestingly this experience led to a design project, but first let me tell you a little about the driving experience.

Ariel Atom with side panel design

Driving the atom
The Ariel Atom is one of the fastest production cars on the planet. It has a catastrophic acceleration of 0 to 60 m.p.h. in a mere 2.8 seconds.

Here I am, behind the wheel, preparing for 10 laps of adrenaline infused insanity. The version I drove was not the top of the range model, but it could still pull 0 to 60 m.p.h. in less than 3.2 seconds, which, I am told, is faster than a Porsche 911.When I put my foot down, I thought I had been strapped to the nose cone of the space shuttle, by mistake. Mary Poppins would easily have found a suitable string of superlatives to describe the experience, it was simply outstanding.

And that's not all. The g force around corners gives the nearest equivalent to liposuction. It was absurd. Rubber just doesn't stick like that. These tyres must be infused with treacle.

This is not a car for lovers of flat caps or turbans, they won't stay on. This is a car for the brave.

Personalised Chassis Panels
A few days after driving the Atom, and still running on adrenaline, I developed the idea of personalising the looks of owners vehicles. For more information and examples click here.

Original image of Ariel Atom supplied by New Zealand Ariel Atom dealer Open Wheeler Imports.

HSP exhibition

2005-07-17T11:23:00.000+12:00

You are invited to view a new work (untitled), which is currently part of the 'Come As You Are' exhibition at the High Street Project art gallery.

Artwork (white with red border) is positioned centre in above photograph.

Dates
19th July - 6th August 2005
Venue
High Street Project
140a Litchfield St
Christchurch
New Zealand
Gallery Hours
Wed - Fri 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Sat 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Swimmer number one in competition final

2005-05-23T22:45:00.000+12:00

Digital image 'Swimmer number one' has been selected into the final of the Anthony Harper Contemporary Art Award.

Swimmer Number One

Dates
25th May - 11th June 2005
Venue
CoCA gallery
66 Gloucester St
Christchurch
New Zealand
Gallery Hours
Tues - Fri 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Sat - Sun 12 p.m. - 4 p.m.

Links

2005-01-01T09:30:00.000+13:00

J. Paul Getty
www.Getty.edu

Tate Modern
www.Tate.org.uk

Venice Biennale
www.LaBiennale.org

Optic nerve newsletter

2005-01-01T09:20:00.000+13:00

Interested in visual art? Get Optic Nerve visual online newsletter.

Being a current recipient of Optic Nerve will enable you to:

learn interesting, educational, and maybe even humorous information about the art world.
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get a timely reminder of the solstices and the equinoxes, which is when Optic Nerve is published [mid winter’s day, mid summer’s day (the solstices) and the middle of spring and autumn (the equinoxes)].

If you would like to receive Optic Nerve via email, drop me a line to my webmail address (see right hand menu).

Contact information

2005-01-01T09:01:00.004+13:00

web
www.rogerbays.com

email / google chat / google voice

For a direct link to my email address, click on my email address in the top right hand menu.

skype
RogerBays

landline
from within New Zealand 03 669 0558
from outside New Zealand +64 3 669 0558

mobile
from within New Zealand 022 099 66 93
from outside New Zealand +64 22 099 66 93

post
Roger Bays, 11 Aston Drive, Waimairi Beach, Christchurch, 8083, New Zealand.

personal visit
Click on a map to enlarge.

About artist

2005-01-01T09:00:00.001+13:00

I was born in England in 1958. I took my first photograph in 1961 when I was three years old. I shot the image, of my mum and dad, on their 120 roll film camera. I remember that they carried the camera around in a jet-black gasmask bag, which they had kept from World War 2. Unfortunately, the negative must have received a burst of stray light, before processing. However, luckily the key parts of the image were not destroyed, so it has survived as an historic family image and a record of my first documentary photograph.

[image] mum and dad 1961

Throughout childhood, I loved drawing. I was also interested in design, inventing things, and photography. I recall looking at billboards with great interest. My parents gave me a Kodak 126 instamatic camera, which I used whenever I could.

In my early teens, I took extra studies in technical drawing and by my early twenties; I was working as a design draughtsman with Philips Industries, in Cambridge, England. I learnt a lot with Philips. I had really wanted to become a photographer, but this seemed out of the question at the time.

My next engineering job was with Cambridge Consultants Limited, also in Cambridge, England. I worked as part of the inkjet development team. It was the early years of inkjet development. I still find it hard to believe that I can buy an inkjet printer for a mere US$100. Back then, customers paid many thousands of dollars, for a printer with very low resolution.

Rock climbing and skiing became my main passions. I quit a career-based lifestyle and spent many years travelling the world in search of snow, rock, and excitement. Scary trips to the French Alps and being benighted on distant mountainsides were all part of the tapestry that unfolded in those times. In the background, I kept taking pictures, slowly honing my skills as a photographer.

In 1988, I was successful in applying for a guiding position with British Antarctic Survey. My camera got some good use on that trip! Going to Antarctica also gave me an opportunity to work closely with science, and it reawakened my interest in physics. On my return, I studied physics, for one year, at Canterbury University, in Christchurch, New Zealand. However, despite top grades and a love of physics, I decided not to continue on that career path.

A new road lay ahead, as a writer, illustrator, and publisher. In 1995 I started writing and illustrating a how to ski book, which I titled 'Ski Magic - the secrets of skiing explained'. This proved to be an incredibly interesting project. Both the writing and illustration challenged my levels of competency. I created many of the illustrations in a 3D virtual environment; they took many hours to complete. However, I was absorbed in the process, so time did not matter.

The next part of my career led more towards industrial design. Throughout my life, I have designed many products, which have never reached the market place. I am an inventor; it's in my blood. It was time to develop a range of products, and get them onto the market. I launched Aquatube in 2000. Aquatube is an over-the-shoulder hydration system for outdoor enthusiasts. It enables users to reuse, readily available, PET cola-type drink bottles. Hence, Aquatube adheres to the environmental principle of, reuse before recycle.

Since 2001, I have been working fervently with photography. The development of high quality digital cameras has been enormously helpful. In 2003 I shot over 6000 images, this would have been uneconomic just a few years earlier. My photography database now sits at over 21,000 images. Art now dominates my life. Art is an arena where I can create and invent. It is exciting, experimental, vibrant, and above all, it is fun. I view myself as an artist rather than a photographer because I am primarily interested in art, and I work with other materials besides photography.

Roger Bays