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.
Such a reality both drives and emerges from our informational age, an era in which everything is reduced into a soup of undifferentiated slop, leaving us untethered, prone to paranoia and resistant to reason; but it also brings experimentation with form, allowing us to address systems and modalities that want overturning and/or reconfiguring. Straight dichotomies no longer look so certain, despite voices insisting on the opposite. Ancient absence and presence are increasingly usurped 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). I aim to celebrate and exploit the dissolution of entrenched binaries and dualisms within a symbolic realm that feels dangerously unstable and/or wonderfully fluid, depending on your point of view and tolerance for opposing tensions and/or acceptance of ‘superposition’. However, I also acknowledge and worry about the resulting instability and loss of ground. 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.