Having been born [1983] just prior to what is (now) referred to as the Information Age, and at a time whereby sweeping changes brought about by digital computing and communications technology were beginning to alter the face of modern society, I am very much interested in the disparity between the tools available to me as I was growing up, and those of today.
The commercial use of computers and mobile phones experienced explosive growth in the early 80’s, and led to a seismic shift in the way that we live, communicate and play. I can recall listening to tape cassettes, watching films on VHS, playing video games on a monochromatic Game Boy and only having (limited!) access to a house phone, all of which have/has been replaced and/or displaced by more efficient counterparts.
I don’t have a distrust of technology, change or progression but I do have a concern that as we continue to develop new technology we will continue to oversubscribe to it, and that too much of what we are able to do without it will be consumed by it. For this reason I would like to produce a body of work that carries a social commentary on technological progression, the forces driving it (political/social/economical) and its impact upon societal values.
During Level 4 I cast a computer system out of plaster in an attempt to portray the transient nature of technology and also question the value of technology in relation to obsolescence and supersession. This is something that I wish to revisit with this body of work, however with greater conceptual depth and finesse.
Cast Production (2010)
plaster
This piece challenges the disengagement of traditional practice in the art culture of today, reflecting upon the effect that technology has had upon our sensibilities. In an age whereby cognition seems to frequently displace emotion, my intention is to call into question the validity of conventional processes, in direct comparison to technological progression, whilst maintaining a tangible association with the piece.
My intention now, almost two years on, is to move away from the notion of craft versus technology and concentrate solely on obsolescence. My decision to revisit the process of casting is an attempt to draw narrative from the fact that to cast is to index an absence; the object no longer exists and what is gained is residual and vestigial. It becomes both material and immaterial, present and absent: a vacant mass.
The commercial use of computers and mobile phones experienced explosive growth in the early 80’s, and led to a seismic shift in the way that we live, communicate and play. I can recall listening to tape cassettes, watching films on VHS, playing video games on a monochromatic Game Boy and only having (limited!) access to a house phone, all of which have/has been replaced and/or displaced by more efficient counterparts.
I don’t have a distrust of technology, change or progression but I do have a concern that as we continue to develop new technology we will continue to oversubscribe to it, and that too much of what we are able to do without it will be consumed by it. For this reason I would like to produce a body of work that carries a social commentary on technological progression, the forces driving it (political/social/economical) and its impact upon societal values.
During Level 4 I cast a computer system out of plaster in an attempt to portray the transient nature of technology and also question the value of technology in relation to obsolescence and supersession. This is something that I wish to revisit with this body of work, however with greater conceptual depth and finesse.
Cast Production (2010)
plaster
This piece challenges the disengagement of traditional practice in the art culture of today, reflecting upon the effect that technology has had upon our sensibilities. In an age whereby cognition seems to frequently displace emotion, my intention is to call into question the validity of conventional processes, in direct comparison to technological progression, whilst maintaining a tangible association with the piece.
My intention now, almost two years on, is to move away from the notion of craft versus technology and concentrate solely on obsolescence. My decision to revisit the process of casting is an attempt to draw narrative from the fact that to cast is to index an absence; the object no longer exists and what is gained is residual and vestigial. It becomes both material and immaterial, present and absent: a vacant mass.
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