Structural studies
A series of interconnected studies focused on the operation of systems.
Even though each study is a function of itself, the origins of this practice is oriented by Louis Althusser's concept of the "swerve"; the implication of unpredictable deviations from established norms; a rupture in conventional order. The predominately video works intersect in their shared interrogation of relationships between order and configurations of deviations through aesthetics.
By stripping ordinary subjects like yellow flowers and urban drain systems of symbolic meanings, the works engage their subjects as purely as visual stimuli as acts of subtraction that facilitate unencumbered encounters with the mundane.
The deliberate disruptions to utilitarian functions and temporal conventions within the videos serve as a philosophical commentary on the aspects of methods of urbanised existence. The swerve becomes a conceptual tool for subverting established narratives about urban infrastructure and its role as world-making tool.
The philosophy of the swerve becomes a lens through which to appreciate the beauty through subtraction and disruption.
No. 1: single channel projection, 7 minute continuous loop, dimensions variable.
Three scenes of yellow flowers with intentional manipulation of focus at the far edges of the left and right frames. The flowers, stripped of symbolic meaning, serve purely as visual stimuli; the unbounded order of the flowers contrasting with the geometric frame.
No. 2: single channel projection, 11 minute continuous loop, dimensions variable.
The flow of water through an urban drain system. Each view presents an alternative direction of the water flow and, in their arrangement, create a disrupted perception of the shape and direction of the water path that mirrors the function of the bounding concrete.
No. 3: diptych, individual projections, 3-4 minute continuous loops, dimensions variable.
These arrangements still video-graphic observations of the geometric patterns and rhythm inherent of a set of concrete steps. The overlaying process disrupts the utilitarian nature of the object; the temporal dimension of the video is also subverted as there is no movement, and there only subtle variations in light quality, reflecting the stasis, mundane and muteness of urban infrastructure.