Tuk-Tuks Topiary
Will Pappenheimer 2006
60”w x 45”h, 8000 + hand dyed pom poms applied to canvas
computer image still from YouTube travel video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FM8sge1Nzqg
from the exhibit at: "Hypertexturalities" curated by Lee Klein at Florence Lynch Gallery, NYC, September 8 - October 7, 2006

YouTube Topiary Series
These works are produced through a distinct process involved in recycling computer and hand made processes. The images are chosen from a particular frame in a video on YouTube, placed there by a participant eager to share video records of their travels, families, comments, etc. The video source above features a dolly type shot along a street of topiary animal figures in Bangkok, Thailand. A still is then processed by the “Pointillism” filter in Photoshop. One half-inch pom poms are then hand dyed to closely match the colors in the projected image on canvas. The result is like “Pointillism” in that the image congeals as the viewer moves away from the image, but unlike this former art historical movement in that it is the result of computers recording, analyzing and imitating visual information. The fuzzy nature of pom poms reflects the personal identification of YouTube participants with a mega website community. This series influenced by the writings of Lee Klein and focuses on topiary as the recyling all that is understood as natural, artifical, hypereal, surface and substance.

Wildland Fires
Will Pappenheimer 2008
60”w x 45”h, 8000 + hand dyed pom poms applied to canvas
computer image still from YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68s85eaVROo&feature=related
Area ignition to reshape and contain the a forest fire area, 2007 season of the California fires.