seriouswordsandtheirmeaning(s)

I had quite a wonderful meeting today with Dr Malcolm Longair which turned into something that happens quite rarely in my life a meaningful, challenging, fruitful tutorial.  The experience heightened my sense of responsibility around the language I use and caused me to reflect on the slippage of meaning available for and used by an artist but not a scientist. I have been thinking about the idea of principle  1. a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behaviour or for a chain of reasoning. 2. a general scientific theorem or law that has numerous special applications across a wide field. From the late 14c meaning origin, source, beginning; a rule of conduct. Very different from belief, I feel that there is a link but the gap between the two is intriguing. While I am in this zone it is interesting to consider the relationship between an axiom and a rule. This idea of the gap of meaning is manifesting itself within the objects and animations I am making currently that show the movement between two states. Coming from crystallography and the process of categorisation through symmetry operations the pieces mirror the space of mental linguistic gymnastics that is used to shift or transfer from one word or state to another, a translation of sorts. 

I feel today has been a transit point - there are many stages or phases to a project. This one has purposely set out within its structure to try and break from my conventions by embedding within it notions of not knowing as a route map. I feel it is now time to know. 

movingstaticobjects

two days on trains has given me the space to work on creating a series of moving 3D Google Sketch Up pieces. I have then combined them with images from the vast bank that I now have in the files. I have been looking at exploring different ways of grounding the moving elements on and with the static images

textilesandgrids

a morning of creating 'images of science'. combining photographs from labs and the grids 

lazercuthands

lazer cutting the large images of hands working the structural pieces in

the lab and glove box was an outrageous experiment with a high chance of
failure, that of destroying an interesting successful image. It's not
surprising that I'm unsure about the final outcome, the original images are a
little lost, in that they are a little difficult to read and may require some
form of juxtaposition through layering with other content/material to develop
an appropriate dialogue. But I will never tire of watching the lazer at work.
There is a strange circular symmetry at play as the image was made in a
specific box like space and was then the image was placed in another  protective box to be lazer cut. 

3Dreality

The 3D printed work with David has come out really well - the materiality of the pieces have their lineage alongside the plaster and wax pieces created within a 'traditional' sculpture studio. Embedded within them is the history of sculpture and mould making - material talks. The plastic speaks of the future, the surface texture is of machine and the colouring is so heightened that there is a sense of an inability to engage with it, where did it come from? How big should a thing created on a screen become? The scale of the pieces enable them to sit in the hand, this site specify space references early work on the project. 

gloveboxinstructions

the latest film on display at the Maxwell - it's an extensive compilation of some of the structural bookworks manipulated within a glove box with some instructions/statements that I have collected so far overlaid.  The restrictions designed into the physical pieces are exacerbated by working with them in the very controlled space, especially wearing the heavy duty gloves.  The film was created with a view to it being a 'background' within the space, I like the idea that users of the space will glimpse a moment or caption over an extended period.

exhibitingevidence

An excellent day at The Maxwell - it was nice to catch up with some of the 1st years and share some of the work I've been making and explain their connection to it. Their ideas and knowledge has fuelled a lot of the thinking behind the work. I also put up a display of some recent pieces within vitrines and posted new films on the screen.  The afternoon saw a poster session, catching up with some familiar, friendly faces from Croatia and in some cases managing to support directly their designs. I've been thinking that this is something that I could offer in my role here - some form of graphic-design-for-science sessions, examining design fundamentals and looking at the maths behind why some things just 'work'. 

mattermatters

I have encountered a number of machines that map surfaces but to enable this they are calibrated to 'fire' matter at the material they are investigating, the evidence of this activity is mapped, the space between surface and probe providing answers. I am currently following a line of enquiry that looks at this, making physical something that cannot be seen by casting the negative space of the folding structures that explored the hand gestures, fixing a moment in time. Creating work that explores the negative space. I have combined this with the overarching theme of science aesthetics - creating images that look like science.

crystalspraydiffraction

The creation of imagery within crystallography has been a starting point for the new body of work. A conversation that introduced me to the projection problem - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereographic_projection led to new models and how they are used as a tool or device to create imagery.

3Dspacesrealandimagined

The films on the screens in the Maxwell Centre look fantastic, it's great to have a physical space to put them and be able to watch reactions as people walk past. Meanwhile I'm slowly gathering people to work with - the project is extending into 3D printing, we are looking at creating a series of twisted spaces that are almost unimaginable without 3D software. I've been working with Google Sketch up and I love the idea that the structures in the soft-wear both exist and don't, or more correctly they exist in two states simultaneously. This visualisation of imagined spaces links neatly with the idea of the void and my attempts to cast spaces that one can't see. As ever what is wonderful about the shared spaces in The Maxwell is that somebody inevitably walks past and a dialogue is struck up, this really is how learning takes place. Today I was informed that I'm working on things called antiprisms - who knew  - wonderful, this led to researching and developing new structures with a richer understanding as a result. Another conversation led to thoughts about crystallography, notions of symmetry and pattern making through convergent beam diffraction. The idea that the categorisation of objects taking place through observable functionality can lead to connecting with textile design is something I didn't start the day with.  Next week I have organised to put some of the 3D work in cabinets, this will, in my mind replicate the effect of the clean rooms, placing objects within defined spaces for the purposes of observing. 

fillingspace

I spent the afternoon yesterday at the studio of sculptor Laurence Edwards casting negative space - it's a great place to think and time there allowed me the opportunity to play with 'traditional' materials. Working with the idea of unseen spaces I've been casting the volume within the folded structures - transforming the folded flexible structures into fixed vessels has made me rethink the idea of book as container of knowledge. I have created a number of forms that I have poured ideas into but it's rigidity and lack of physical transformation is something that I'm working with. Today is to be all about catching up, following up and building connections.