Artist Statement_Video Sculpture 2023
[_”LCD ReefLine” video sculpture project description _]
The “LCD ReefLine” video sculpture project merges eco-friendly practices, advanced technology, and captivating visuals to create immersive and sustainable artworks. Sculptures are crafted using a combination of reclaimed ocean debris, plastics, styro-foam shipping supplies, and LCD screens, aiming to simulate the vibrant and symbiotic nature of reef ecosystems in an installation environment.
A key aspect of these sculptures is the integration of LCD screens, which serve as the canvas for the attached sculptures. The screens are transformed into art pieces, as the physical sculptures become intricately attached to their surface. The addition of technological elements, such as fiber optics, LED lights, and high-resolution 4K videos showcasing South Florida’s coral reefs, enhances the visual and interactive aspects of the artwork, providing viewers with a unique and engaging experience.
Through the attachment of physical sculptures, a dynamic synergy is established between the artwork and the video playing on the screens. Illuminated by LED’s and fiber optics, the sculptures come to life, immersing viewers in an environment that replicates the mesmerizing qualities of an actual reef ecosystem. The sculptures are encapsulated within the very styro-foam shipping supplies that delivered the consumer electronics, underscoring the impact of waste on the oceans.
By incorporating reclaimed and recycled materials, the project sheds light on issues of waste, planned obsolescence, and human impact on the oceans. The use of these materials serves as a reminder of the need for sustainable practices and highlights the potential beauty that can emerge from re-purposing waste.
Through the “LCD ReefLine” video sculpture project, the artist seeks to inspire reflection on our relationship with technology, waste, and the environment. By combining reclaimed materials, advanced technology, and captivating visuals, the project invites viewers to contemplate the fragile beauty of coral reefs and the importance of adopting sustainable practices to preserve these natural wonders.
[dNASAb] 2023
Artist Statement_Video Sculpture 2009
[_”Future Genetic Anomalies” “Dark Science”,” LCD_Blossoms” _]
My work references future technological advancements in which singularities occur between species and science. Human technologies have made visible territories once believed to not even exist. Continually through the advancements of science we are able to “see” more of the natural world and consequentially manipulate it for our purposes. I create complex sculptural systems based on the shapes of genetics, nature and technology. These systems become ecosystems where a symbiotic relationship occurs between disparate materials, L.E.D’s, fiber optics, sculptural materials and consumer electronics.
This a paradoxical time period when genetic-organic materials grow together, fuse into complex new systems, with computers and technology. I am inspired by the ideas of this inevitable conglomeration . Is not a television already a unique example of this fusion, minus the genetics? It is a technological hardware device but it creates/delivers ideas via the organic, light and sound waves. This seemed impossible or far-fetched, as well, “Pre-TV”. Already we are being met at the marketplace with other more recent examples like OLED technologies, organic light emitting diodes as tv screens, enhanced by natural phospherescence properties. I envision a home entertainment system more closely resembling a garden of living tissues than a stack of boxy hardwares. A new natural landscape of ecosystems growing around our technologies is emerging as reality. Plugging in our devices to living power sources, Is it in the near future? Clusters of shimmering schools of animatronic video screens, Is it far fetched? Organic interactive replicating video organisms, Is it impossible? Actualizing works that instigate these kinds of questions is my intention.
I am also passionate about exploiting underutilized spaces to create sculpture. The “LCD_Blossom” video sculptures exist in a completely new site for sculpture. The surface of the screen, and the space between the viewer and the screen. Although in that space is an unseen landscape; surely in the future this unseen space will be filled. With 3d imagery like Holographs, or quickly shape shifting matter, animating in three dimensions the way a TV would in two. I am creating works that speak of this transition. I even for-see nostalgia for my video sculptures in the far future, and an “I remember owning that particular piece of electronics” conversation. Which also nicely time period dates the works.
I create in the materials of the “now”, consumer electronics. I also am not interested in hiding the technology, but rather to use it in new ways. To make it visible to the viewer that I am using a screen, the same as the 50 hung together in the Best Buy store, or the 20 in your favorite sports bar, or even the one in your living room. They are the same. I have just chosen to utilize the screen in a similar way as a canvas for painting. Trying to seamlessly integrate the in-motion 2d image, and the physical sculptural component that is truly three-dimensional.
As artists we create in a state of evolving flux, my work references this. For the majority of the art histories, the tools of the artist where fairly stagnant, compared to the tools with which we create. They are continually morphing, rapidly, exponentially evolving. You can see this in my work. There is velocity, direction, and evolutionary motion.
[dNASAb] 2009
ARTIST STATEMENT_”iPod ECOSYSTEMS” 2007
While on International Residency at the Experimental Television Center part of Alfred University in 2006, [dNASAb] worked with a hardware video synthesizer made by Nam June Paik/Abe called the Wobulator. In an effort to visualize the information and energy spewing from the synthesizer , [dNASAb] created a temporary photographic environment utilizing the Wobulator. This piece inspired many ideas about the distribution and display of video art via video sculpture.
Already creating I-Pod videos formatted for global delivery via the internet and I-Tunes ,it seemed a natural progression to work with the most recognizable handheld mobile video devices. The I-Pod, now being 5 years old, is deeply integrated into the lives of millions globally and speaks of the fetishism that modern consumers have for new electronic mobile devices. [dNASAb] sees these new devices as raw materials for artistic creation. Thus the beginning of the I-pod sculpture series.
The first group are continuously looping ,wall hanging ,painted audio/video sculptures .The sculpture actually provides the energy and audio components to make the I-Pod have a life and voice, It is a symbiotic relationship . The sculptural elements are congruent to the video and speak of the “movement and velocity of cultural “living data” , and comments on the speed of change with which ideas travel and evolve .Each I-Pod has its own unique custom videos and video play-lists relating to the sculptural elements. [dNASAb] also has started to work directly onto the I-Pod screens sculpturally, integrating an image in motion on a two-dimensional screen is a visionary artistic precursor to the actual future technological advancements of video fabrics , holographic projection screens ,and virtual reality.
These experiments pose interesting questions such as “What kind of ecosystem would an I-Pod flourish in ?” “Does the place where the I-Pod resides have any relationship to the content contained there in “”Can sculptural components enhance the aesthetic of the I-Pod and its content?” Which is more valuable the vessel or the content?
[dNASAb] 2007