Adult Art Education Issue || Double Image Slide Projection Technique

National Art Education Association

Double Image Slide Projection TechniqueAuthor(s): Lennox TierneySource: Art Education, Vol. 15, No. 8, Adult Art Education Issue (Nov., 1962), pp. 17-19+27-28Published by: National Art Education AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3186678 .

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people who have taken the course maintain that par- ticipation has enabled them to see modern art in a new light, to change former attitudes toward what

they used to think of as obscure movements in painting, and to appreciate and enjoy (both old and new)

paintings which they previously had felt to be beyond their understanding or interest. In some instances, individuals who come only to ridicule the pictures to be examined found themselves slowly becoming more and more intrigued and fascinated by what they saw and heard. After a few sessions, instead of poking fun at examples of cubism or abstract expressionism they could be heard explaining to other participants in the

group how they were defending these movements and

encouraging non-participants to "open their eyes and their minds" and see without prejudice. Many whom I've worked with were going to visit museums to have a first-hand look for themselves for the first time in their lives.

General advice and assistance on the formation of

adult discussion groups may be obtained from The American Foundation for Continuing Education, 19 South La Salle Street, Chicago 3, Illinois.

The text for participants in the course, Looking at Modern Painting edited by Leonard Freedman is available in a soft bound cover from the publisher, W. W. Norton and Company, Inc., 55 Fifth Avenue, New York 3, New York.

The set of 44 slides, complete with the group discussion leader's manual may be purchased from the Audio-Visual Center, Indiana University, Blooming- ton, Indiana.

Surely, when the mature members of a community are better informed about the art of their time, they are prone to view the art program of their public schools with greater understanding and sympathy. A

good step in that direction may be taken through the introduction of a course designed to aid the adults of a school district to more effectively know how to appreciate the creative output of contemporary artists.

LENNOX TIERNEY

Double image slide projection technique Recent advances in the technology of image pro-

jection have made possible certain teaching techniques not heretofore available. As is usual with ad- vancing technology, the field of functional usage has lagged behind, all the more so because greater advantage in this instance also means greater cost. In fact, a very simple rule would naturally apply-- double image, double cost. Since double advantage also seems to exist, it is well that we investigate the

pros and cons available to us in this field.

As a definition, double projection means two simultaneously projected images side by side on one large screen or two adjacent screens. This projection of double images enables the lecturer to make visual

comparisons directly without depending upon memory retention from image to image. It also enables him to show simultaneously two aspects of the subject; for instance, the front and the back, the top and the bottom, the old and the new, an Oriental-Occidental

comparison, something from the north and south or

NOVEMBER 1962 17



from the east and west. It also makes possible cultural comparisons such as a comparison of scale in objects shown simultaneously, close and distant views, a wider single image (this is achieved by a single panoramic picture divided between two slides and projected across the double screens); comparison in esthetic values such as a good and bad choice, color comparisons, contrast comparisons, textural comparisons, line and form relationships, comparisons in visual perspective, comparisons between second and third dimensional objects, comparisons in stylistic characteristics, and comparisons showing growth and development in sequence.

This double projection method also enables an audience to see double the amount of material in the same time required for single sequence projection whether the material is comparative or merely used to enrich a program by additional view- points. There seems to be a time advantage for the alert and interested audience in presenting material in double projection for the simple reason that an audience is able to absorb more material visually than we have assumed they were able to do. In single projection the audience is frequently all ready to go on to the next item before the speaker is ready to do so. In double projection the audience has plenty to do during the entire time of projection in shifting the gaze from one image to the other and in following the remarks concerning both images made by the lecturer.

In many ways the double projection lecture tends to relieve some of the boredom which some audi- ences have felt relative to slide talks. In fact, for many years the motion picture maintained a great deal of popularity simply because there was more to do and less boredom between images. In motion pictures boredom might exist for lack of interest between sequences but not between individual frames, and in double projection this tendency of the audience's interest to lag between pictures is lessened by the double image; also the fact that the images are changing constantly and that the changing of the image can be adjusted so that they are changed simultaneously or alternately, or the operator may hold the left- or right-hand image and project five or six or more slides against that one image on the other screen.

There is a physical change of pace for the viewer in changing the eyes from one image to the other or in shifting back and forth between them. This causes a constant change in the use of eyes and neck muscles with consequent less fatigue. The single slide viewer

with his gaze fixed at a single point often suffers from a more "fixed-in-concrete" postural fatigue. In other words, there is a more variable adjustment possible in both the viewing and in the organization of the visual material to be presented. This in many ways gives the same effect of variety and action that is inherent in the motion picture. It creates a program which is new in the sense that it is neither a motion picture in the traditionally accepted sense of that term, nor is it the traditional slide talk with a single image commented upon by the lecturer in sequence. Its use seems to banish audience boredom and at the same time its aims are essentially educational and not directed toward mere entertainment.

Because of the advantages mentioned, the tendency in post-war years in courses requiring projection has tended more and more in the direction of double

projection. However, in practice this was not always mechanically advantageous until after certain recent

technological advances in the field were accom-

plished. It is only within the past few years that auto- matic projectors have reached a level of development consistent with day-to-day usage. Problems existed in the field of maintaining image focus during projection, accurate and rapid change of slides, dark screen during the image change, and ability of the

changing mechanism to cope with the problem of slide warpage and wear.

There are several unique advantages already mentioned and, of course, there are some disadvantages, principally in the field of complexity and cost of

equipment. The complexity is involved with the process of projection itself in which one needs two stands for the projectors, two sets of extension cords-both the

power cords from the electrical outlet to the projector as well as the push button control cords from the

projector to the podium. An extra projector, of course, is involved and both projectors must be in excellent mechanical condition, since any mechanical break- down is all the more noticeable and upsetting because of the dependence upon the two machines operating perfectly together. In using extra or auxiliary projector lenses, one naturally needs two instead of one and, of course, two screens or one oversize screen doubles or enlarges the difficulties with that item.

Our college installation at Pasadena City College consists of the following equipment: Twin matched Eastman Cavalcade Projectors permanently mounted in a projection booth in an inclined floor lecture hall seating approximately two hundred and twenty-five persons. Mounted near the ceiling at the front of this hall are twin glass beaded screens 12' wide with a 9' drop. The plunger pushbutton controls for accom- plishing slide changing are wired into the building so that by plugging in a short extension from the front

Lennox Tierney is Chairman of the Art Depart- ment of Pasadena City College

18 ART EDUCATION



of the house, slide changing can be accomplished from the speaker's podium. This does away with a clicking device or the "Next, please" often used by lecturers as a necessary but annoying element of slide changing. The push button controls make for fast, quiet, auto- matic change varied as indicated earlier by the needs and wishes of the lecturer. A public address system allows the speaker to use amplification from the podium and there is a monitor speaker in the projection booth so that operators in the booth can follow whatever is being done in front of the lecture hall. A play-back system also enables the lecturer to use recorded material over the audio system, and this also allows for tape recorder adaptation so that taped materials can likewise be used in connection with double projection lectures.

An auxiliary piece of equipment which is handy for setting up new visual material for lecture sequence becomes almost an absolute necessity for double projection and that is the lighted table-a surface large enough to accommodate around two hundred slides lighted from beneath on which slides can be spread for assembling into lecture sequence. This piece of equipment makes it possible for the lecturer to pick up pairs of slides in a relationship which makes them meaningful for lecture purposes and so its use in double projection will be readily seen by the person who uses it because of the necessity for seeing in advance the pairing of slides which gives sense and significance to this type of presentation. The slides are then picked up in pairs and stored in boxes marked Left and Right and placed precisely side by side as the slides are inserted. In the author's experience slides with metal slide holders (septums) have proven the most satisfactory with the varieties of slide mounts and conditions which most colleges must deal with. The lectures can then be labelled, paired and permanently stored ready for use.

The reader may be interested in the story concerning the author's first approach to double projection. Actually the idea for its use occurred to me in attempt- ing to make comparisons between the east and the west. I had the good fortune to live in the Orient for a number of years working with the Forces of Occupa- tion in Japan. I had amassed a large number of slides from that area. After that experience I had likewise worked in Germany and had taken another large collection of slides from that part of the world. In arranging two different lectures relative to these regions, it occurred to my wife and myself that very amazing comparisons existed between buildings, cus- toms, costumes, folk arts, social adaptations, geographi- cal locations, art forms, historical periods and eco- nomic conditions in contrasting the Orient and the Oc- cident and we began to pair them off, one slide from

the Orient and one slide from the Occident, in such a way that a person could visualize the comparison readily between the two pictures. Thus was born our first double projection lecture, which necessitated the assembling of the two projectors and the two screens and the experiment of being able to see the two images simultaneously. It was so successful that other lectures were soon developed relative to this idea and it was not long before I was making my photographs in the field with the idea of double projection in mind. It was out of this eventual adaptation of the technique that I began to actually take pictures for double projection.

From this new approach developed the technique of taking a panoramic view in which I take a left- hand and a right-hand half of the same picture divided between two slides, which would ultimately become one when seen across the double screen. This technique ideally requires a steady tripod, preferably one marked in such a way that the degree of angle can be controlled. I must admit that often in the haste of field work I simply hold the camera as steady as I possibly can and make a mental note upon the right-hand margin of the first picture with which the left-hand margin of the right (second) picture can be aligned which produces a panorama across two slides. I try to keep such things as horizontal lines and significant horizontal elements of the photograph in juxtaposition so that they will not be too out of kilter on the screen. My best ones are made ideally under tripod conditions. The knowledge that you will be using your materials for double projection purposes fundamentally changes the approach from the photog- rapher's viewpoint. You will find that you are making many more general long shots of subject matter for use on one screen followed by close-up detail which you will wish to use in conjunction with the longer shots. You will also find that you are taking many more pictures from various angles-high and low, right and left, top and bottom, and also of step sequences of growth and development or change in the objects being shown because of the greater flexi- bility in the method of presenting the material to the audience.

You will also probably discover that your lecture notes will take a different turn in organization. New lecture techniques seem to be called for, involving an even greater use of the already existing advantages of more time for lecture comment during image observation inherent in the single slide projection technique. This time is not necessarily physically longer in double projection but seems to involve a psycho- logically longer audience span of subject attention relative to a slide grouping. In any case, double pro-

continued on page 27

NOVEMBER 1962 19



disciplines because of national defense. It is highly possible that this tendency has been accelerated at the very least by the spectacular success of the Soviets in applied science. There exists a grave danger when a nation such as ours directs the vast majority of its educational efforts into a narrow channel. We are afflicted by the national attitude of ad hoc action, of pragmatic planning. It would be a tragedy for the cultural and educational level of the United States if science and technology were to control the curriculum.

Education in the United States has suffered in the

past from excessive enthusiasm over one aspect. This mistake must not be repeated. We must not let our educational program be detrimentally weighed in utilitarian and income-producing terms rather than in terms of the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake. The basic ideals of American education are to pro- vide every individual with opportunity for maximum development of his abilities and to produce citizens responsive to the political needs of their time. Some of the best minds should be encouraged to achieve excellence in the social sciences, others in the hu- manities. America has need of a wide variety of hu- man talents, and we must not deprive students of the

opportunity to develop these talents. I am deeply aware of the need for well-trained

scientists and technologists in our present age, and I

hope to work next year on a good technology bill. However, I have a deep concern for the fact that if we allow all this aid only to the scientific disciplines, the result inadvertently would be stringent Federal controls.

DOUBLE . .. from page 27

jection seems to require more lecture explanation as many of the image comparisons are startling but unrelated except by the lecture comment.

For college lecture work we have found double projection to be superior to the personally commented motion picture with its rigidly fixed time sequences. The aims of on-the-spot creative and spontaneous lecture development at the time of critical image observation are definitely served by this technique.

It might be noted that double projection seems to add another dimension to illustrative lecture materials. The single projection lecture may in a way be only a one dimension presentation in that the audience sees one picture at a time and one aspect of the object being shown. In double projection a seemingly second dimension exists and this may necessitate a new term such as "audience dimension" or some such term to describe what we are dealing with in that the audience is now able to see another aspect which is separate from the sequential events of a motion picture or the

sequential images of a single slide projection. It would

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understanding of an audience in relation to the material being presented, and this should be of interest to educators who are always concerned with audience

comprehension and in our abilities to increase audience comprehension in learning groups.

Perhaps an actual teaching situation will illustrate this point. My colleagues and myself, concerned with the instructional program of art history at Pasadena City College, were much concerned with the effect of the immense amount of material which must be covered in a semester's work in the extremely limited

length of lecture time available on a semester basis. The simple fact exists that a great deal of art history has happened in the history of the world to date, and it becomes increasingly difficult to cover it in the instructional time available. With the installation of double projection at Pasadena City College, we find that we cannot only cover the ground more thor-

oughly but enrich the ground covered. The extra imagery and greater exposition of detail has had the effect of deepening the students' understanding and increasing his comprehension of the subject. The effects of this have shown up statistically in improved student accomplishment, more time for critical re- search paper writing, raised course standards and ever increasing enrollments in a course generally con- ceded to be one of the most if not the most difficult course in our college curriculum.

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Adult Art Education Issue || Double Image Slide Projection Technique