2016 – 2023
This section features recent and current work made or developed during 2016-2023.
For Issac, Alan & Steve (2016-17)
Between 2016 and 2020 I developed on a series of sculptural installations entitled “Impossible Objects”. My notion of the “Impossible Object” was related to sculpture in relationship to moving images and sound. These temporary works involved a combination of ordinary physical objects with images and/or sound. I sought ways to construct relationships between domestic objects with video and sound to produce an “impossible” situation that can only exist temporarily within the mind of the viewer. Although these pieces have much in common with my earlier work in that they sometimes incorporate or feature renewable energy components in order to make connections to the theme of flow, they are also more directly centred on notions of “process” as a central concern. They are “Impossible Objects” not because they cannot exist (as they clearly do), but because they they make use of or refer to a process that contains a contradiction or presents an “impossible” idea. They are representations of a state or situation that cannot be achieved except through the processes and agency of art. In this respect I have been influenced in part by the Mono-ha works of Korean artist Lee Ufan, in which there is an encounter between different materials- “a relationship of tension” in which the work is the site of the encounter. All of the works are hybrid installation/sculpture made using domestic technology; assemblages using readily available materials and equipment. All of these Impossible Objects are hybrid installation/sculptures made using domestic technology; assemblages using readily available materials and equipment.
In 2018-19 I produced Climbing Mt Ishizuchi in the Autumn, a 48 min video recorded in 5.7K using a Garmin 360 camera documenting my ascent of the pilgrimage route of one of the holy Mountains of Japan. During 2021 I developed an immersive version of this work.
In Oct 2021 during a residency on Gozo in Malta, I recorded a second video using the Garmin 360 camera. This work, Nothing Beside Remains, edited in early 2022, was premiered at Valletta Contemporary as part of Meta Landscapes: Representations & Perceptions, April 28th- June 25th, 2022.
Most recently I have been developing a series of outdoor, solar-powered neon text installations: Seek the Pattern that Connects (For Gregory Bateson) (2022) and Truth is a Pathless Land (for Jiddu Krishnamurty) (2023). The third work in this series is currently in development.