About
The linguistic/techno/scientific revolution we’re living through is happening whether we want it to or not, know about it or – and for a variety of reasons, some of which render individuals and groups relatively blameless, some less so – remain barely aware of associated, often violent, or disturbing paradigmatic shifts and relational consequences. And then there are those who have decided to take advantage in ways antithetical to life…
Within that reality, we have entered the age of information, with the potential to reduce everything into a soup of undifferentiated slop, as well as providing us with opportunities to experiment with new forms, moving on from systems and modalities that desperately want overturning or reconfiguring. Straight dichotomies are losing, and in some cases have lost, their grip on meaning, despite some insisting the opposite. Absence and presence are replaced by pattern and pedesis (material movement that isn’t utterly unconstrained but can seem erratic and chaotic, as described by the philosopher Thomas Nail).
Addressing the potentials and risks, I focus on how contemporary media influences and constitutes or destroys our world (often simultaneously). While I celebrate and exploit the dissolution of entrenched binaries and dualisms within a symbolic realm that feels dangerously unstable and/or wonderfully fluid, dependent on your point of view and tolerance for opposing tensions and/or superposition. I also lament the loss of common ground and truths, since without those, many of us seem like maniacal, narcissistic naked apes flailing about in an eternally recurring and horrifically noisy turbulence, with little to cling to or hold us other than illusions made from ideological certainties. And as I work through paradoxes and philosophical conundrums, I do my utmost to avoid negative nostalgia, nihilism and sanctimony, holding on to empathy for all I’m worth. (Of course, I frequently fail. Nevertheless, empathy and a commitment to pluralism, underpinned by Martin Buber’s concepts of dialogue and listening, sit at the core of my project. Listening sometimes entails hearing, not to what is voiced, but to what isn’t.)
Influenced by Maya Deren’s call to discover a new language for film in the 1930s and 40s, in the 21st century, I embrace an expanded definition of 'the image', encompassing optical, sonic, and haptic elements. I categorically reject accepted media hierarchies. Poetry can be made with anything, even shit. So far, I’ve avoided literal shit but will mix various materials – from tinfoil, film, and textiles to AI-generated content and organic matter – while rejecting received wisdom about the value of this or that medium over another. This results in projects that aim to traipse across and through boundaries, manifesting simultaneously in print, online, or installation, with image, text and performance. Nevertheless, I heed Hannah Arendt’s warning in Truth and Politics; beware of images made in the mechanised (and now automated) world, however they come into being.
In 2023, I graduated with an MA in Contemporary Photography; Practices and Philosophies (Distinction). My final project, LAMELLA:// was nominated for the Mullen NOVA CSM award and received one from Hahnemüehle for most creative use of their paper. In 2022, why is there an astronaut in a field of flowers/ was one of seven projects selected for Format/Derby Quad’s Future Focus Exhibition and received a Format Award. This year, I am taking part in Six Minutes Past Nine’s second Hybrid Realities Lab, exploring hybrid storytelling techniques and will be joining the School of Materialist Research’s Physis 2025 programme in August.
Elsewhere, I work with artists and photographers, developing websites and supporting/mentoring while working on specific projects. I offer structured feedback, as well as practical support and theoretical guidance. I can help with websites, blogging, AI image-generation, ethics around the image, and zine/digital publication . Please inquire about fees or request further information.