Category Archives: research

23 Oct

From Earth: Prototype A

logo_from earth_BW

 

“Working with the notions of narrative and game, a context is laid of linearity, rules, permissions and choices of engagement. The viewer/ participant/ reader should be place in a position of choice throughout.”

A symbol based on electrical earthing. Arrowed for direction. Enveloped for context.

08 Jan

Dissent and Dogma

Dissent is predatory. It seeks out and hunts down dogma. Initially tentative, it looks for weak links,  scavenging it’s way through the paradigm pack. But as it gets bolder, it becomes capable of bringing down even the biggest of the preconceptions, slicing through thick skin and armoured habit with a purpose that will not be denied.

Absolute values
Fixed views
Entrenched perspectives
Untested facts
Enforced decisions

It’s all prey.

05 Dec

Jochen Gerz

http://www.gerz.fr/html/07_map.html?art_ident=7&res_ident=1

“The internationally renowned German artist Jochen Gerz (* 1940 in Berlin) has, with his works in public space, radically altered the relationship between art and viewer. His work transcends social boundaries, and creates new constituencies since it relies on public authorship. The individual is no longer just part of the public but is rather made part of the art. Gerz’ work anticipates the aesthetics of a democracy in search of its cultural dimension.”

 

 

05 Dec

Re-negotiation

Navigating the space between management and practice is difficult. After five years of CAS, I still seem to be no further towards realising a solution. Working with the CAS Associates, however, is becoming a highly catalytic experience.  The ability of CAS to function, engage and initiate has grown. It’s been sudden, and in ways that surpass expectations.

What this means is, that I am now on the back foot and having to begin the process of renegotiation all over again. The last few years have been spent with me controlling and micromanaging every detail of CAS, with the aim of directing its growth and structure. This was a method that was very hands on and detailed.  It’s also simply not possible now, and being in a position to step back and relinquish control of new activity is at once both unnerving and exhilarating.  Such a step back is only possible if you work with people you trust, and in that respect, I am very lucky.

04 Dec

McLuhan & Prosthetics


  • “”We shape our tools,” he said, “and then our tools shape us.” Technology, according to McLuhan, is an extension of our own natural faculties. Just as a knife is an extension of the hand, and the wheel an extension of the leg, writing is an extension of speech and of memory. In this general metaphor, automobiles become extensions of our personal bodies, and the city an extension of our collective skin. Electronic communication is an extension of our nervous system, just as computers are extensions of our brains. Once extended, however, these technologies are “amputated.” They exist as external and independent objects, though we remain dependent upon them.”