Void / A projected image installation / c3artspace, 2018

Single channel video installation, project image size = 2160mm x 2880mm

Still images from the single channel video installation, project image size = 2160mm x 2880mm

Research Background

This work sits within the discourse of convergent media where photography, understood as 'a superimposition of reality and the past’ (Barthes, 1980), and computer generated imagery 'that points to a future event’ (Manovich, 2001), intersect with information technologies. The work is conceptually based in computational thinking which is used to decompose problems by identifying variables and, by using data representations and algorithms to form generalisations or abstractions, create generic solutions. However, this line of thought is based on the fatalistic assumption that the more information that we have about the world, the more control we may have over it and that this may impair our ability to make critical judgements (Bridle, 2018).

Research Contribution

Void is a projected image installation and a visual model that was created to study the relationships between the photographic image, numerous technologies and their confluence with the endless stream of digital information. Computer-generated data visualisations and astrological symbolism, things that are in constant flux, are superimposed with lens-based imagery that relates to the material and the physical world. This translation of information into imagery, of both the past and the future, seeks to instil a new sense of order and agency for being in the present – as opposed to nostalgia for the past or anxiety about the future.

Research Significance

The work was included in the exhibition Strategies for the Future, curated by Victoria Lawson, that deals with the assumptions of postmodern, post-structuralist philosophies and digital technologies. Held at the C3 Contemporary Art Space in Melbourne from the 15th of August to the 9th of September 2018, and supported by the Abbotsford Convent Foundation, the opening was attended by a cross-section of members from the Victorian cultural and creative arts sectors. Total visitations were estimated to be approximately 1,200 people.

Paper maquette, light, digital photography and motion control

The looping moving image below was created using artificial light and robotic motion control equipment to simulate the sun's azimuth. Informed by the solar studies of my studio space (video files below) these studies are temporal interpretations of the relationships of our earth, it's orbital path, and my perceptions of the spaces that I inhabit.

Studio solar studies / September, 2017