applying the microscope and the telescope

in what feels like some sort of gentle epiphany, i've come to realise that the focus of my research is rather more refined that i had been imagining. when i look back over my work, which was a happy by-product of my application for a phd, it is clear to me that while my over-arching interest is in a broad re-interpretation of nature, my actual creative material output is more specifically focused on an exploration of technology as a filter and mediator of our relationship to nature. and it is this particular intellectual curiosity that is the driving theme of this project.

this is a rather exciting discovery as it refines the focus of my work and allows for a more directed line of inquiry.

looking back over the last couple of years to exhibited works and even works that were abandoned, incomplete or put on the back burner, it is apparent that they predominantly use various forms of technology to engage various forms of nature in order to extract or elicit information. and it is the construction of these experiment-like assemblages, together with their extracted information, that is the work. 

Network 2008 - spheres of wood, each with network cable, apparently seeking out a connection to a network plug, one visible on the trunk of the old tree.

Off The Record_An Aeolian Symphony 2008 - old turntable arms applied to the severed and spinning tops of logs, apparently extracting the sound from specific growth rings. Created rhythmic white noise/static sound.

 Tap 2008 - audio jack connected into central growth ring, extracted 'information' played through amplifier. Created low hum sound.

More recent works have seen a webcam monitoring a bonsai, a pseudo-EEG monitor connected via networked telecommunications cables to terrariums of garden plants, and recorded sounds of leaves and branches being broken by hand played back at slowed speeds. The connecting thread with the works is this focus on technologies being used to extract, or apparently extract, information from things that could be deemed to be 'natural', such as plants, leaves and logs.

understanding exactly what 'natural' objects i am using, and what forms of 'technology' i am choosing to use in these artworks will require analysis. but i feel confident that this renewed understanding of my work will enable a more refined artistic output.