Gary Fisher
© 2017-2025  Gary Fisher
(internally stressed acrylic sphere, polarizers, diffusion screen, light source, motor, acrylic enclosure) (from birefringence series)
Rotating Stressed Sphere, 1985 4"x6"x6" (edition - 5), (from birefringence series)
(internally stressed acrylic sphere, polarizers, diffusion screen, light source, motor, acrylic enclosure)
(from birefringence series)
Four Art Webcam Images, 1998, (from birefringence series)
water-filled vessel with clear bottom, diffuse light source, polarizers, assorted birefringent materials, pump, nozzle, web-connected camera, software, uploaded images (640x480, 72dpi.
hand tinted b/w photographs, acrylic, walnut
Sky Column 1, 1974, 2.25"x4.5"x1.5"
hand tinted b/w photographs, acrylic, walnut
Copyright 1988 Gary Fisher reflection hologram, hand-tinted b/w gelatin silver photograph
Night Sky, 1988, 4"x5"
Copyright 1988 Gary Fisher
reflection hologram, hand-tinted b/w gelatin silver photograph

This hologram was exhibited in 1988 and 1992  in Images in Time and Space, an International holography exhibit at its Los Angeles and Santa Monica California venues. To my knowledge "Night Sky" was the first mixed media work combining photography and holography to be shown in either a gallery or museum setting. In the piece the stars appear in depth behind the clouds in the photograph,- as they would in real life. 

Selected Mixed Media/Sculpture
The unexpectedly asymmetry of one face of the cube becomes apparent only upon observaltion. The maquette "floats" slightly above a clear base which is meant to anchor the cube in air rather than to the ground.
In an outdoor installation the "cube" is invisioned to be  8' x 8' x 8' and fabricated in brushed stainless steel. A short  central post anchored to the installation base allows the cube to float slightly above ground thereby adding to the inconguity of the sculpture.
Copyright 2012 Gary Fisher hardwood, acrylic base
Asymmetric Cube, 2012, 4"x4"x4.5"
Copyright 2012 Gary Fisher
hardwood, acrylic base
In 1998 I designed an apparatus that would continuously circulate a number of pre-stressed birefringent shapes in a diffusely illuminated water-filled vessel. Polarizers made the instantaneous patterns visible to a webcam positioned above the vessel. For a few months images recorded by the webcam were randomly uploaded to the internet and displayed on the armchair.com website. The overall envelope of potential images were a function of my choice of materials, their shapes, sizes, and degree of internal stress, and the water flow dynamics I designed into the apparatus. There was purposely no intelligence behind the choice of which images the webcam would upload. Conceptually, I was interested in whether the artistic content was in the conception, the realization, or in the images generated and randomly chosen to display.
Clouds are presented in a sculptural context removing them from their essential transitory nature.