Ideas are always at the centre of my work. I wanted to talk about my sensibility for handling them; both in my self initiated work, as well as in the jobs those projects have led me to.
In short; I make things which bring ideas outwards; to communicate in ways which are compelling for an audience. As well as developing unique and fascinating ideas, I specialise in finding the output which enriches them most.
Anything can be a landing strip for ideas if used appropriately. Board games, architectural models, mixtapes, books; these all have unique qualities that they can bring to the table. For me, this variety of capabilites should be embraced and used creatively.
Despite seeing no limit to the way an idea can be staged, I have a detailed understanding of design, film and sound in particular. Lots of the projects I do feature these mediums, reconfigured together in different ways.
When the Royal Academy of Arts asked me to create an installation for the ‘Julia and Hans Rausing Hall’ I employed the use of Film Sound and Design lead by the syntax of architecture.
I wanted to mention this project because it illustrates something important about my work, in relation to process. When the corridoor space I was comissioned for offered little inspiration, I looked to the adjascent spaces to help define it’s meaning in the project - as a bridge or connector.
I’m meticulous in this way, interested in the overlooked quality of something. Often I’ll try to isolate that, carry it over somewhere new, to see how it blossoms through the capabilities of a new discipline. This is what lies behind my sensibility for working across many outputs, I’m interested in their unique capabilities and combining them.
Take a radio for example. When tasked with curating an online exhibition during Covid lockdown I was keen to use the unique qualities offered by online media in a new way, taking inspiration from outside this discipline.
Instead of the colour, materials or shape of the radio; the feeling of twisting it’s tuning dial was what stood out to me. The dial offered a unique navigation experience, allowing you to scroll through the sounds of different radio stations. How can this be carried over to the way we browse visual art?
This passion for cross pollinating disciplines came partly through my ivolvement in Slow Dance; a multidisciplinary arts label started by myself and friends at school and now described as “the collective at the cutting edge of London’s live music scene” by Dazed and Confused.
We showcase London’s emerging experimental artists, building a platform which now helps artists like ‘black midi’ and ‘PVA’ grow from London’s underground scene to Mercury Prize and Grammy nominations.
I suppose an experimental attitude is what underpins everything I’ve been trying to explain. I’m interested in showing people something new, or something they already know in a new way. When tasked with curating a graphic design exhibition, I was bored of the same static formula often used to present this kind of work.
Always seeking to do things in unseen or unexpected ways, I hired 300 metres of industrial conveyor belt as a display system to snake around the gallery. The conveyor displayed process work and offcuts from the final projects displayed on the walls.
I hope this daisychain commentary gives some insight into what underpins my approach as well as what I could offer to the Google 5 team. You can take a look at the work in more detail here ︎︎︎
G5 feels like an environment which is naturally alligned with my sensibility and experience. The chance to contribute in this way is really exciting for me, I’d really love to be involved.
Felix
Having convinced the 100+ exhibiters of the idea I also had to collaborate with indsutrial conveyor manufactures to find a solution which met the needs of an art exhibition, as opposed to their normal function. Construction company meets white wall exhibtion
These were the first disciplines I began exchanging between. From
performances live editing to reshuffle the clips of a narrative film to fit an imporivsed score played by musicians...
to
reconfiguring the lexicon of sheet music, using visual forms of processing to unlock new ways of composing, which when translated back into sound.
Working across mediums in this way takes work. Whether its thoroughly studying the capabilities, variables and language of a medium in depth. Or bridging the gap between the common language of the disciplines.
OR experimental attitude - seeking to do things in unexpected ways.
