Uncovering the Core

Uncovering the Core is the latest action in an ongoing quest for root motivation through social interaction. I began to ask the question: What symbol can represent the core individual?

One path towards an answer involved the manipulation of recognizable photographs.  I used photos of family, friends, and popular personalities.  I removed color, gradient, and simplified the resulting image as much as I could while still retaining recognition of the person.

This narrative begins with an image of me taken for my first passport.  My father had died and I was immigrating to the United States.  It was a symbolic loss of innocence moment.   The photograph gives way to a simplified version of itself, a symbol of me. I tear away that symbol representing a period of "finding myself". Beneath the symbol of me, we see a series of symbols receding to compose the next image. These symbols of family and friends are interspersed with the symbols for love and fear representing core motivations. As the transitions speed up figure and ground switch places leaving the viewer struggling to make sense of the images. Struggling, as I did, to discover what we are composed of.

The photographs were taken by me and digitally manipulated using Photoshop. The mosaic effect is a screensaver which comes free with Macintosh computers. The video was compiled, edited , and manipulated in Final Cut Pro from dv footage.

My art practice of late has found me working in the collaborative group Aequitas, exploring themes such as alienation, childhood, perceptions of identity, spirituality, and consumerism.

Aequitas is Latin for equality, symmetry and fairness between individuals. By working under the singular identity as Aequitas, the intention is to direct focus on the art rather than the individual; to remain outside the cult of personality, to explore alternatives to the more culturally accepted individual creative force. The artists believe collaboration does not require leadership and can bring better results through decentralization and egalitarianism. It is a working practice that art collaboration should be playful and not taken too seriously.

Stephen Beveridge is an internationally exhibited Scottish-born artist living and working in New York City. To date Stephen has had 78 exhibitions of his art including solo exhibitions in New York City at Columbia College, Work of Art Gallery, and Artspace OSA. He has been part of group shows in New York City at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, MOMA, and Sara Meltzer Gallery

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Film & Animation

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