Online Dossier
Theorists and theories
Jacques Derrida (Deconstruction)
Encyclopedia Britannica. (2018). Deconstruction | criticism. [online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/topic/deconstruction [Accessed 23 Apr. 2018].
Derrida uses Deconstruction to dismantle our excessive loyalties to any idea and learning to see the aspects of the truth that might lie buried in the opposite. In one of his most well noted quotes “There is nothing outside the text”, Derrida claims that language encompasses our reality, or so his quote might seem to suggest. What Derrida tries to tell us here is that language has the power to shape our reality, our subjective reality. He builds on Ferdinand De Saussure’s idea of deconstruction to explain how everything in our physical reality is defined by symbols or language. He points out that the language we use in our daily lives is how we define our reality, and not that there is actually nothing outside language. Using deconstruction, we may be able to find new answers and/or questions about our own lives that would let us expand our reality. Though there may not be another way yet for us to view reality, Derrida implores us to use language as a device to dig deeper within our reality; to understand and to shape it. The concept of deconstruction is one of the few underlying outlooks I use to navigate life itself. Therefore, it is also one of my core reasons for creating most artworks. In my current project, I want to deconstruct public soundscapes and visualise its impact using digital projection that takes live audio as input into a software and create patterns based on that audio as output.
Jean Paul Sartre
Philosophy Talk. (2018). Sartre's Existentialism. [online] Available at: https://www.philosophytalk.org/blog/sartres-existentialism [Accessed 23 Apr. 2018].
Sartre's concept of Existentialism briefly says, among other things, that 'Things are stranger than they appear'. He urges us to be aware of existence as it is when it has been stripped of any prejudices and stabilising assumptions. His concept of existentialism is not very far from Derrida’s theory of deconstruction. Sartre strips away the surface normality of everyday objects to reveal its radical strangeness. For example, a glass of water can be a force in constant struggle against gravity that wants the water held in the vessel to flow towards the earth. This is just one of the many viewpoints one can have about a glass of water. The point of this is to understand that we are absolutely free, which entails every possible actions and thoughts that we are capable of. This is both terrifying and calming. But he also urges us to not make decisions based on bad faith. Bad faith is something we tell ourselves when we say “It has to be this way”, without even fully questioning or understanding this particular way.
The strangeness in the soundscapes of our daily life can be revealed using a visualisation software that lets us view the surrounding sounds. A specific visualisation would be chosen or designed in such a way as to make it look strange or mesmerising.
Jacques Lacan
Gallop, J. (1982). Lacan's "Mirror Stage": Where to Begin. SubStance, 11/12, 118-128. doi:10.2307/3684185
Lacan's 'mirror stage' talks about a child's first encounter with a mirror that can be one of the most profound experience that child may have since birth. Drawing upon this concept, I became very interested in helping others and myself through a path of self-realisation. The projection of visualised soundscapes works similar to a mirror, as the projected visuals are also a reflection of the sounds we make as a collective in a limited space.
Plato
Philosophy & Philosophers. (2018). Plato and the Allegory of the Cave (Analysis). [online] Available at: https://www.the-philosophy.com/plato-allegory-cave-analysis [Accessed 28 Apr. 2018].
His 'Allegory of the cave' is one of the most influential concepts that I identify myself with. Plato's cave questions the authenticity of our own reality by asking us if we have been living (or imprisoned) in the shadows of another reality for so long that we only recognise the shadow as the actual reality. It has been a driving force in my life to make it my constant mission to question everything. Using the butterfly effect as a base theory, I want to question what reality did we, as a collective, create or are still creating on the other side of the planet or for our future generations. This reality, be it happening now or in a 100 years from now, is hidden from us.
Rene Descartes
Plato.stanford.edu. (2018). René Descartes (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). [online] Available at: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes/ [Accessed 28 Apr. 2018].
Descartes' Duality Theory is something I have always been in agreement with, even before reading about this very concept. I have always found myself observing two sides to everything that I care to think about. It also gives me a calming effect to think that everything can possibly be in a state of balance.
Descartes' famous phrase Cogito Ergo Sum is also influential to me as it reminds me of how important our minds and its thoughts are in shaping our own world.
Roland Barthes
Gallix, A. (2010). In theory: The Death of the Author. [online] Theguardian.com. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2010/jan/13/death-of-the-author [Accessed 28 Apr. 2018].
In Barthes' Death of the Author, he speaks about how the work of an author or artist stops being his/her own work when the readers of that work absorbs it in their own way. Even when the author creates a work that is precise and clear, the meaning of that work may not be the same when it is read by an outsider. This concept speaks to me a lot for my practice because I never put my signature in any of my artworks to claim it as mine.
In my current project, the visualisations created as projections are not entirely of my own making. It is the public that initiates the projection.
Jean Baudrillard
Kellner, D. (2018). Jean Baudrillard. [online] Plato.stanford.edu. Available at: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/baudrillard/ [Accessed 28 Apr. 2018].
A quote by Baudrillard, "It isn't lack of access to info that renders the news meaningless, but the proliferation of images that makes news media so untrustworthy" makes a lot of sense to me when it comes to consuming products of the media. This quote has also led me to find and pursue my own unique desires and tastes instead of just having a sense of belonging with the mindless horde of popular culture consumers that is mostly fuelled by modern media.
The Butterfly Effect
Rouvas-Nicolis, C. and Nicolis, G. (2018). Butterfly effect. http://www.scholarpedia.org.
This is a concept invented by the American meteorologist Edward N. Lorenz (1917-2008) to highlight the possibility that small causes may have momentous effects. Initially enunciated in connection with the problematics of weather prediction, it eventually became a metaphor used in very diverse contexts, many of them outside the strict realm of science. This article takes us through a scientific approach, mostly, to explain what butterfly effect really means and where and how it is used. It also provides shows that the butterfly effect cannot be entirely precise in weather predictions due to numerous uncertainties. Although, this complex system is by far one of the closest we have to a weather prediction system. Apart from the scientific and deterministic approach to the concept, the butterfly effect can also be vaguely applied in everyday life where little things in the past can make big differences when ideas and trends cross a threshold, tip and spread.
The visualisations projected within the public sphere is a representation of the chain of events (or the catalyst for the chain) that follow up after even the most insignificant of acts in our daily lives.
Schlieren Visualization
This technique, also known as Shadow graph Technique, visualises the change in light paths as it traverses through a different air or liquid density than it was initially travelling through. The technique has been used in several experiments and researches involving wind tunnels to determine the source of shock waves in objects related to aviation. This technique can also visualise the change in air movement when a heat source in introduced into the test area. The technique has been a huge inspiration to me in finding ways to demonstrate the nature of unseen energies. This technique shows us an invisible world around us through science and for me, it is quite artistic in that it reveals to us that even though we cannot see some things, it still exists. It is quite a humbling experience. I have noticed also that when this phenomenon is viewed by people for the first time, it never fails to amaze them. Therefore, I also find a very strong aesthetic element in this visualisation technique.
Quantum Entanglement
Relativity of spontaneity
Meaningful Coincidences
Artists
Wim Delvoye
Wim Delvoye is an inspiration for me to push boundaries of my own practice. His artworks can be described as bold and thought-provoking. In many ways, my own practice is not nearly bold enough to make strong statements. Not yet. But I do aspire to be stern and daring for the future, where I hope to actually bring about changes in the world. I do believe Delvoye's boldness is the kind of attitude we need as artists to make the thoughts provoked by our artworks to last longer. Otherwise, they will remain just another aesthetic experience that lasted only during the period of its experience.
Tattooed Pigs
Tattoo Tim
James Turell
The visually mesmerizing effects of Turell's artworks are what I can only hope for my own arworks to achieve.
There is strength and a sense of calmness in Turell's work and it is not an easy feat to achieve.
Crosscut
Afrum
Senye Shen
This work by Senye has been quite an influence on me ever since she told me about it. The impact of air movement on these light weight and sensitive material speaks a lot about the changes we bring about through a seemingly localised action such as walking. The Floating wall inspired me to create a very similar work, but one that relates to me directly. I use digital visualization to reflect sound waves in my work mostly because I have done my undergraduate degree in computer science.
Floating Wall
Malte Wagenfeld
The aesthetics of air relates to my work in a lot ways. The main commonality here is that it reveals a hidden side of our surrounding s using technology and visual aesthetics.
Aesthetics of Air