The Codamorphology Project is an enquiry as to whether mathematical structures translate to visually aesthetic value within a unified field. A program was created to produce latin squares, relinquishing all compositional concerns to algorithms. Attending to this 'design' with traditional printmaking techniques of wood-cut and paper-stencil screen printing, brings process to the fore in each work.
Glasgow St Series 1-9 : All are single passes of the inked roller onto the surface of the paper laid on the road
Glasgow St D: Multiple overlaying passes of the inked roller onto paper laid on the road.
Architrave Experiments. Architrave arrangements of varying sizes and rotations forming a unified field
Algorithmically made 'keys' succumb to rotation and translation through layering of transparent inks. I designed a simple program to create these 2-dimensional forms within a vector field of variable dimensions. Chosen keys were made for polyester plate lithography and screen printing. Process in each technique was permitted to be revealed, offering a sense of passage as each work is created. I see the use of code as a material as much as paper and ink of printmaking. While I could romantically call the program a collaborator, I cannot; it is simply a tool - like a specific brush - that I have made, with simple rules and output. Nevertheless, the program can create a large array of novel forms that (i) I would not have considered and (ii) produce a vast number of possibilities not manually possible in a human lifetime. While Antony Gormley and Olafur Eliasson have their multitude of staff, I have my programs. Rotation as an operation blocks any 'a priori' of expectation of the unified field; however I do choose keys to maintain an 'empty sign' or rather, to prevent unintentional references to physical things. They are what they are.
Show opened at Potocki Paterson Gallery, November 7th through to December 19 2020, level 1, 41-47 Dixon St, Wellington. SIMULACRUM involves observing the medium as message. Algorithmically created key elements are layered, presenting as a unified field. These forms are copies of themselves and without an original. With 'SIMULACRUM' I am also interested in the artwork as object and what that means as a sign of value.
I give thanks to my friend Martin Krafft, who commissioned a work connecting to the philosophies of the community of open source software (OSS).
OSS is code that is designed to be publicly accessible - anyone can see, modify, and distribute the code as they see fit. It has become a movement and a philosophy that reaches beyond software production because of it's collaborative, open and transparent nature.
After some research I came back to a previous series of lithographic works which share key elements with open source aspirations. What drove the 'post-modern' era was the reaction of artists to the idealism of the past and the power that the galleries and academic institutions - even today- have on the art world. These artists looked to materials that made art and the processes themselves as the content of art itself, as opposed to aesthetics and idealism. What this means is we entered an era where transparency, honesty and integrity are the most important things to the artist. In these 'prints' the process is the work, everything is laid bare on how they were made, printmaking techniques are shown rather than hidden - a parallel with the principles of OSS. The story of their making is the content. Furthermore the products of Open Source software (Processing) was used as part of the process in creating the lithographic process. These prints are all from the interaction of templates from two of three different programs, with no planned aesthetic. On the topic of collaboration, I would like to recognise and thank artist and maker Mark Lander (marklander.org) for the use of his amazing and beautiful handmade flax paper.
While each artwork is a unique and original document of the processes that created it, every digital image of this series is licensed under creative commons (CC).
