Hat in Motion builds on the initial gesture based ideas explored in Studies #1-6 in particular, the idea of following a movement with the camera from Study #2 and Study #6. The work features five gymnastic movements performed by Eliza Wrenne each presented as a separate GIF.
Motion tracking was used to plot the exact path of Eliza’s hat around the image. This path was then mapped to the camera so that it exactly followed the hat’s movements, creating an effect where the hat remains in the centre of frame while everything else moves around it. The size of the footage was then increased so the hat filled the frame obscuring the majority of the original image.
By obscuring the original gestures in favour of a single point of focus, Hat in Motion explores the impact of performing a gesture upon a specific part of the human body, highlighting subtleties in movement and expression that might not otherwise be noticeable. The work also develops the contrast between the human and digital. Instead of editing the footage to enhance a movement, the motion tracking process cancels out human gesture creating, what I feel is, an unnatural absence of motion.
