0 comment Saturday, May 17, 2014 | admin
Currently, the artist duo Semiconductor have an exhibition at FACT Liverpool.
Semiconductor's latest artwork is a collection of videos called Worlds In The Making which explores geological patterns such as crystallization and volcanic activity.
The piece "Worlds In The Making" is the result of many years of work, collaborating with scientists from all over the world.
Kindly, Semiconductor have provided a preview of their exhibition on Vimeo:
Worlds in the Making - preview from Semiconductor on Vimeo.
Personally, I find Crystallised (2011) intriguing. Crystallised is a series of animations created by recording the sound of ice crystals, working out the algorithms of their formations and generating a digital animation based on the information. This was an extremely long process, as the software alone took six months to write!
This piece of work is incredibly interesting, because their research is re-contextualising science based art. The artists are not simply illustrating the work of scientists, nor are they trying to achieve a scientific discovery through arts based practise.
Gerhardt says of his work:
"Everyone is very familiar now with the very standard format of creating a narrative and a way of documenting science, and hopefully we're challenging this." source.
Labels: Algorithms, Art, Crystal, Crystallised, Crystallization, Fact Liverpool, Joe Gerhardt, Liverpool, Ruth Jarman, Science, Semiconductor, The Guardian, Volcanic, Volcano, Worlds In The Making
0 comment Thursday, March 27, 2014 | admin
To create, an artist must mix substances. Traditionally, pencil meets paper, paint meets canvas, plaster meets water. However, as art progresses, artists become more experimental with materials.
In the case of Roger Hiorns, copper sulphate has been applied to a disused council flat to create this crystallized set of rooms. The artist has pumped the copper sulphate in to the flat, left the solution to crystallize at a cool temperature and then drained the solution back out again.
"I'm not a scientist. I'm more concerned with starting a natural process which will go on happening by itself. It's never ending. It won't stop, whatever you do."
source
It is interesting that Hiorns does not identify as a scientist, but as an artist instead. This work displays a defined balance between order and chaos. The scientific process in which the crystals have been created would need to have been very precise, however chaos dictates when and where the crystals will grow.
Additionally, as visitors to "Seizure" crush the crystals on the floor and brush against the walls, the work evolves as people pass through.
Labels: 2009, Artist, Chemistry, Crystal, Crystallised, Crystallization, Roger Hiorns, Seizure, Tate, The Turner Prize