Testing Testing, one two
A couple of weeks ago I constructed yet another site specific installation, (see fig. 1) As part of a curatorial exhibition project. This started a whole conversation with space. When I say conversation I don’t mean in the sense of actual parlance. I am describing how constructions work with the spaces they inhabit. Structural elements of any display space will conjure up architectural elements that may impact how we experience a given work. This could be in the form of columns, doorways or pipework. Even daylight is a consideration.
Fig. 1 A start in installing work into a space.
Fig. 2 Test exhibition setting in the lecture space in the calcutta annex.
Fig. 3 First test hang of TV Garden hommage. Unnecessarily over edited shots. But interesting structural choice.
Having researched Nam June Paik, I am interested in what we do today with technology. What used to take large spaces and bulky equipment to convey images now exists on screens in the palms of our hands. More so, the technology behind new communication systems relies on hidden networks, algorithms and vast sums of power in the terawatt to sustain our dependence on such tiny devices. A way of exemplifying the hidden elements of technological systems that our lives become more dependent on is to conceal a source of stimuli in the form of light. This will be produced by entombing a standard 5-foot fluorescent tube in concrete. By contrasting the concealed elements of systems with the actuality of TVs, we get that which is hidden, creating that which is seen. What is then seen, leads into conversations of visibility that, conversely, is dependent on the same systems that govern inclusion within networks. These governances show themselves in built in dependences between humans and deep learning networks. To function in societal systems that facilitate our navigations through daily tasks, such as having accounts, interconnected platforms of administration and access to information, requires ever increasing reliance on these systems, both seen and unseen.
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