Submerged #4 Symphony in Red

April 01, 2019

Once again, I decided to explore the backs of my latest Polaroids. After being submerged for three months they appeared almost unaffected, unlike the summer batch. It was a moment of pure joy to discover these - aided hugely by the power of serendipity.

However, it was these NEXT three that really did it for me. More harmonious, less distracting, less frenetic. The textures, scars and marks creating multiple layers now have more relevance, the red - a symbolic statement intertwined through my project, takes over the surface. A very satisfactory ending.

I made a big discovery with my latest batch of submerged Polaroids - heat. I hadn’t quite appreciated the intense heat we had in the summer played quite a major part in the ‘cooking’ of my previous Polaroids. They bubbled away for 3 months, while the chemicals did their thing…

Well, my cold winter batch barely changed despite the addition of bleach, followed by white spirits, turpentine and finally after my patience got the better of me - oven cleaner. The changes were still minimal. On reflection, I wish I had stopped there. Too late - within seconds - two images virtually perished in the microwave, I would have continued but the flames were quite worrying.

So, next it was the turn of the oven. Not a bad result - initially - but I got distracted… they are quite crispy now and pretty far gone. Interesting though.

Not to be deterred, I have revisited these Polaroids and have been rewarded with something quite interesting, but you will have to wait until the next post.

Submerged #4 Symphony in Red

Submerged #3

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