Wall sculptures, movies, events and experiments
(continued from above)
With the early work there was an intention to assemble works from completely imagined materials. These would be generated through art processes that alluded substantiation through the optical presence of their surfaces.
I've gained a great deal from researching alternative, lost or unfashionable scientific theories, especially in the realm of astronomy. It is fair to say that I am attracted to concepts that are contrarian, non-conformist or against the mainstream. My current interest (2010) is in Plasma Cosmology, which describes the morphology of the universe through the agency of electricity. This has proved a fascinating journey and a revelation in terms of the imaginative possibilities it opens up. The series of sculptures and installations associated with this thread come within the remit of 'Cosmological Conceits' or attempts to describe the cosmic and sublime in terms of assemblages of the commonplace.
I confess to being fascinated by this novel perception of the everyday. The world is a very strange place to be, the realisation of which can strike at the unlikeliest of moments. I am very aware that it is only the most tenuous of mythologies that keeps a sense of reality in place and my experience is that these undergo inversions with alarming regularity. Alternatively, images of landscapes returned from alien planets by robotic cameras, and unfamiliar environments on the Earth, can seem suddenly familiar as if from a holiday snapshot or the background to a familiar narrative.
My movies are a new departure and falls mainly into two groups. Firstly are those art projects where I am enjoying exploring the potential of my mini camera, and have footage from in amongst the geology of seashores, and around my studio on a model railway track 'dolly'. Taking from this footage I am also compiling narratives that weave my cosmological conceits into journeys through strange and unfamiliar perceptual landscapes.
I have a particular interest in the writings of Julian Jaynes, in the hallucinogenic transfer of temporal lobe metaphorical traffic, and the generation and development of consciousness in the historical movement away from bicameral modes of thought.
The idea behind the perspex works centre around astronomy and the optical presence of the night sky. They are star maps but navigating the conceptual landscape of contemporary cosmology. Informing and inspiring these works are (for instance) the forgotten physics of Walter Ritz' Light Ballistic Theory (1912), the super-positional universe of Ernst Mach and the electric morphologies of Plasma Cosmology.
The 3D anaglyphs are about what you find once exploring the surface of one of these astronomical bodies. They contain imagery gathered from landscapes chosen for the ambiguities as to their planetary identity. This imagery is intended for interactive content for exhibitions and installations. They are drawn from places I visit that remind me of the images returned by orbiters and landers from other moons and planets.
On an almost daily basis we see the Universe with new eyes that Galileo could only have dreamed about. It is my interest to respond to that stimulus with new and continually evolving meta-narratives.
A readiness to draw assumptions from sometimes only half perceived visual stimulus is an important part of my working process and something I enjoy presenting to visitors in the form of these material objects.
Paul Malone 2010
