Much like a ring master or circus performer attempts to train a wild animal, artist Rob Tarbell applied similar principles to taming smoke into the form of old fashioned circus scenes. To achieve the images, Tarbell mounts paper to the ceiling (in a metal garage with fire extinguishers nearby), then burns credit cards and old 35mm film below it, directing the smoke into the desired shapes. He uses his wife and friends as models for the human portions of the pieces and pictures of horses and elephants for the animals. The ghostly images under the name Smoke Rings will be on display from March 11- April 12, 2013 in a circus themed group exhibition at Roanoke, Virginia’s Marginal Arts Festival. [Read more...]