This week has been a busy one, as I prepare this project to show in a physical space, in addition to its digital spaces. Its networked materiality is not easy to manage!
I had to create a very long print for the gallery, which I hope to install a bit like Eva Hesse’s, Area (1968). The size of the print and its multi-layered nature meant it was an extremely large file. It was touch and go and had to be printed with a workaround. I think it still does what it should and keep looking at large format images where the resolution is deliberately destroyed, wondering if I should have gone even further. Although I’ve been thinking a lot about Sherrie Levine while making this project, another Pictures Generation artist, Sarah Charlesworth and her harrowing Stills (1980) spring to mind. Stills was one of the earliest projects where images were enlarged far beyond their supposed capability. One of my tutors reminded me that resolution is overrated and nothing to do with the sort of work I’m aiming for, although I don’t suppose everyone will react the same way.
I must also make some final decisions about the zine/booklet/newspaper I’m trying to create to accompany the exhibition. Someone who may or may not have made several such publications was a little disparaging about a certain company’s quality which I had used for an early example. I am aware the company is used by many, many other artists in the same format, as I have copies of their work and did a lot of research around prices and companies a few years ago. Other companies make the production too costly and being able to provide a little bit of art, even with the humblest production values, for anyone and everyone is absolutely critical. I’ve also spent time looking at publications made in the 50s, 60s and 70s that are falling apart because they were made cheaply. There is something very precious about them, regardless. I was thrown into a bit of a tail spin and so must now make decisions in a little cloud of anxiety – watch this space!
In addition, I have been preparing postcards to be included in a group show pack, and inviting people to come along to the show. The blurb below gives a little more information about the project.
And finally, I am extremely pleased that the project has been nominated for an award – mainly, because the underlying questions I hope to raise are so pressing, and I am really glad that someone else has seen that in the work.
Project blurb:
LAMELLA:// is an artistic research project that aims to explore our relationship with technologies and the narratives they construct. The project combines elements of old and new media, as well as objects and processes, thereby rejecting traditional hierarchies and value judgements about the digital and AI. To make LAMELLA://, I entered text from feminist and psychotherapy research into an AI custom-image-generator, built around a mid-century book on obstetrics. The result is a mixed-media work, which challenges how we organise and categorise our world.
You can visit an online version of the project at https://lamellae.org/. However, the research process and ongoing feedback from the AI and viewers who have engaged with it are as important as the artistic outcomes. Natalie Loveless’ concept of research-creation and Bracha Ettinger’s idea of art-working have influenced my approach, along with Mary Kelly’s focus on child development and language. I also draw inspiration from Lindsay Seers, known for creating projects that contain multiple elements, mixing media and processes, and embracing complexity. As the work explores questions around reductiveness, materiality and value, each iteration that emerges will be different, although made with related information. I’d love it if you came to see how it manifests in a physical space.