Sunday, October 4, 2009

a statement

It is true that 2-D artworks are objects, but they have traditionally been noted less for their flat qualities and more as a window into an illusionistic world. For this reason, 2-D work has always been of more interest to me than 3-D work. 2-D works present spaces and things that are both there and not there. While 3-D works also present representations, they share the same physical space as our bodies. 3-D works can also be regarded as bodies or subjects in our space. Audience members cannot enter into a 2-D space in the same way. While our bodies can share the space of a 2-D work, we cannot physically enter the spaces that are also represented or implied.

I have also been drawn to 4-D video practice. Video documentation has the ability to capture moments and events. Once captured, these framed moments can be relived from the cameraperson’s viewpoint. While videos share our space on a television or screen, the people and places captured are not actually there. As with 2-D work, we cannot enter into the represented space. It is only an illusion of movement through a progression of still frames.

This complex relationship between real/representation has been a persistent thread in my artistic explorations. My current artistic practice involves documenting how people interact with and relate to spaces using mapping tools. My work is also interested in interaction between the past and present in spaces. Ephemeral interactions are marked, traced and mapped. I want to imply absence and accentuate space through the dashed line, and yet accomplish this using a very physical, non-precious thing. I hope to highlight and also collapse perceived space using 2-D drawing strategies in a real space. I aim to facilitate drawings in and on the space, the objects and subjects.