#esaf2017

sifting through my head trying to like any of the ideas i pull from it can be exhausting. i have enough images to fill a show and yet here i am making more in order to avoid having to decide how they will be shown. 

we are all limited by what we can afford to print/frame/mount and often cross the line by entering IKEA instead of a framers.

i must not enter IKEA.

i must not enter IKEA.

i must not.

putting work for a show together is, for want of a less boring word, an investment. professional standard need only apply. please take your IKEA frames elsewhere. 

it is at this point i find it amusing to note that not only have i exhibited my work in the royal scottish academy  by showing in an IKEA frame, but i sold the work too.

there, i said it. dilemma deleted.

not me: “so how are you getting on with your preparations for the edinburgh student arts festival?”

i will be showing my work for the edinburgh student arts festival at DOK artist space. a space which is essentially a steel shed with interior walls as steel as its exterior walls. it is not possible to drill nails into these walls in order to hang my photographs and as a result i must come up with an alternative. 

magnetic tape.

through much deliberation i have come to conclude the following:

choose printing that is right for your work.

choose framing that is right for your prints.

and choose work that is right for your idea.

Interstellar Clouds No Longer in The Universe, 2016 is a series of fictional images produced through a collaborative relationship with astronomers and astrophysicists at the Edinburgh Royal Observatory  

For a long time astronomers considered interstellar  clouds as a nuisance  because they absorb the visible light from astronomical objects and make the universe appear very dark. This series of images catalogues those interstellar clouds which have been removed in order for astronomers to accurately count and study stars.

This series is ongoing project presenting current astronomical fact as a fictional history of astronomical domestication or a controllable universe . The work is supported by those in the academic field of astronomy where ongoing discussions of art and science feed the production of the work.  

This work finds its origins rooted in the popularisation of science in the mainstream media. What we as a species have discovered so far about the origins of our universe is more graspable than ever on a non-academic level. A breaking down of these boundaries has allowed organisations like the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to distribute data of its current astronomical findings on the same social media platforms as a Kardashians arse. To a certain extent ungraspable science is being brought down to a ground level. On my Instagram account NASA's recent orbits of Jupiter scrolls seamlessly into an image of Taylor Swift's 'Squad' with their 'Goals'. Suddenly the now familiar square format of Instagram leaves the documentation of human space exploration on equal terms with #squadgoals.  

i am delighted to have been selected for the edinburgh student art festival 2017, as a recent graduate. ESAF are a really enthusiastic group of people determined to showcase talented artists here in edinburgh.

as you can see from the above picture i will be showing the series ‘interstellar clouds no longer in the universe’ , 2016, which was previously shown during my masters degree show at edinburgh college of art. the degree show saw the series in its early days and ESAF is a chance to give the work some upgrades. i am excited to develop better methods of presentation and  more experimental discussions about the concept behind these clouds that no longer exist. that’s not to say that they do not exist in another reality of course.