Character Assistants

2016 - Computer History Museum, Mountain View, and SVVR (Silicon Valley Virtual Reality), Redwood City, California USA; ZKM Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany; Zabludowicz Collection, London, UK

Deep Down

2011 - Portfolio - Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York, USA

‘Deep Down’ presented work that expanded on research into the technological, anthropomorphism, characterization and embodiment. Addressing them in relation to the affects they have on materials, objects, perception and subjectivity.
The sound work ‘Staring into seeing’ directly addressed how we do or don’t pay attention to seeing. By directly addressing the act of seeing, including the mechanisms of the eye and the involuntary action of our bodies, the sensitivity of our ability to control our own sight was exposed. In ‘Consciousness Combi 1’ and ‘Consciousness Combi 2’ the relationships between material behavior and how we give character to materials, by using materials by thinking how they may represent metaphorically in ideas and concepts the same behavioral traits as consciousness. The works ‘All Sharks’, ‘All Dolphins’, ‘All Fish’ investigates through the use of language, specifically a list of words used to describe the universe, whether action-orientated, emotional or descriptive the repeating words being heard through artificial vocalization become transmuted and deconstructing and raise questions about the influence the technological and the anthropomorphic have upon perception.
Works from the exhibition was acquired by Museum of Art at Rhode Island School of Design, USA with work also being re-shown at a catalogue exhibition in Portugal and in London. The work has been present in talks I have given in London at Central Saint Martins and the Slade as well as Norwich University of the Arts. The exhibit of this body of research has also lead to the inclusion of work to be shown at MoCA North Miami, USA.

Words In The World

2011 - Portfolio - Casa Triangulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil

In the exhibition ‘Words In The World’ I further expanded on previous work in relation to language and translation as well as starting new research into the anthropomorphic in relation to characterization, articulation, the human and the natural. The work ‘Words In The World’ expanded on previous research into visual patterns created by the repetition of words, their lengths and their shapes. The work uses literal translations of its own title into various languages repeating to make a larger pattern of words which expand from the center point to become a visible finite shape. The work ‘Epidemic’ consists of collected examples of pareidolia – faces found in everyday objects and landscapes - questioning how we see, and how ways of seeing can be forms of entrapment. ‘Good Haircut Bad Haircut’ looked further into ways of seeing, looking at using a single line as the only form of characterization, and how the use of specific materials and objects can affect the significance that is given to the experience of an artwork. The work form this exhibition has been presented at talks in Sweden and the UK including Central Saint Martins, The Slade School of Fine Art and Norwich University of the Arts. Works were acquired by the Banco Itaú S.A. Collection in Brazil and Tate Collection in London. Work from the show will also be included in the forthcoming exhibition ‘Love of Technology’ at MoCA, North Miami, USA.

The same as usual

2010 - Limoncello, 340-344 Kingsland Road London E8 4DA, UK

‘The Same as Usual’ was a new body of work that expanded on ideas around articulation, embodiment and the biological. The work ‘Body Feeling 3D’ took as it starting point of investigation an attempt to visualize the feeling of the body while sitting in meditation. The visualization of this was then drawn and further translated into a drawing for a three-dimensional minimalist form constructed in colour sensitive chip foam. The work was then sensitive to slight changes in shape and colour due to the material behavior of the foam. ‘Non-Stop Likelihoods’ showed a collection of the crisp snack Twiglets that had conjoined into pairs resembling the appearance of chromosomes cast into clear resin. The work ‘Sparling Sony HDR-TG3, Sony DCR-TRV25E, Sony CCD-TRV228E’ investigates the subjectivity of perception by filming the same glass of fizzy water through the lenses of three different models of Sony video camera. Works from the exhibition were acquired by the Saatchi and Zabludowicz collections and some works were re-shown in Portugal and in the UK at 176, London. This body of work has further more been discussed by myself in talks in Sweden and the UK including CMS, Norwich University of the Arts and The Slade school of fine art. Work from this exhibition has been shown alongside Martin Boyce, Haim Steinbach and Franz West.

‘In The Pines’

2009 - Portfolio - Limoncello, 340-344 Kingsland Road London E8 4DA, UK

‘In The Pines’ presented new work that continued on from my research into the relationships between biology, nature and technology, specifically looking at ideas of the human, embodiment, articulation and translation. In “Hey see that! Yeah, that’s what I reckon as well!” the act of looking is questioned in relation to ideas of alienation, and extends questions of embodiment and translation.
The video work ‘Every Time You Open Your Mouth’ further expands on questions of embodiment and translation and looks at the subtleties of professional actors (without any previous preparation) trying to act like an intoxicated character whilst being intoxicated themselves and trying to make sense of the nuances of character through speech and bodily expression. The work questions the stability of subjectivity when the ability to distinguish sense from senseless is in continual flux.
The work made for this exhibition has been included in talks I have given in Sweden and the UK, including Slade, CSM and Norwich University of the Arts. Works were acquired by the Sander Collection in Berlin and by the Zabludowicz collection, UK. Work has twice been re-shown in catalogue exhibitions at 176 in London and the exhibiting of this work has also lead to exhibitions at Jerwood Space, the Saatchi Gallery and Stuart Shave/Modern Art, allowing work to be shown alongside work by Richard Tuttle, John Baldessari, Mark Leckey, On Kawara, Sherrie Levine, Richard Prince and Wolfgang Tillmans among others.

Wallowing

2008 - Tanya Bonakdar Gallery 19th June- 31st July 2008

‘Wallowing’ consisted of new work researching the relationships between biology, nature and technology. Twenty-three exhibited works specifically addressed these issues in relation to questions around creative identity, repetition, perception and language. In the video installation ‘For The Greenman’ the affect of the aural in manipulating how we see and interpret the visual was directly explored.
In the work ‘There Is Always Wind In A Tree Somewhere Everyday All The Time’ a single word repeats outwards from a center point in all cardinal directions of the compass. Using the repetition of language to reveal visual patterns defined by the shape of letters and length of words, the work questions the affects of apophenia within written language. In ‘g’ the repeating of a single letter becomes an investigation into the space of the finite and infinite within concepts of the technological, as well as questioning what happens when forces such as weight and gravity take on poetic and mysterious sensibilities.
Artwork from the exhibition was acquired by the Scholl Collection in Miami and the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and there were subsequent showings of the work at MoMA and World Class Boxing, Miami. Some of the work has also been shown in catalogue exhibitions in Spain, Wales and the UK. The investigations of this body of work lead to consequent opportunities to exhibit work at the David Roberts Art Foundation, Timothy Taylor Gallery and the ICA along side works by Pierre Huyghe, Pablo Picasso, Robert Rauschenberg, Marcel Duchamp, Philip Guston, Elizabeth Price and Francis Picabia among others. I have also given talks about the works and their exploration in Sweden and the UK including CSM, Slade and Norwich University of the Arts.