30

Chip Butty Vertice Taylor

My associations with the number 30 are the exact reason I made this work, 30 appears in nature in so many ways, and such interesting ways, it's almost spooky. I wanted to create an ode to that magical number, the golden number of nature. The 30 months of the year, the average of 30 leaves on any one tree (seriously go count) 30 clouds in the sky in view at all times, these sort of things seem random but its all calculated out. I find the number fascinating, and so I created this layered composition using Creative Commons free to use and modify images of some of my favorite natural objects, trees and leaves. I made multiple alpha depth maps from bark and leaves and used those to selectively blur other images, layering and collating them into what you see.

Having had two hours and twenty minutes (two thirds of three hours and thirty minutes, 30 strikes again!) to sit with this work, I would say it does absolutely nothing for me, but it speaks to a higher existence of the number 30, and I am happy to be a conduit for that work, I don't need to enjoy it myself, so long as the power of 30 is given respect.