There is something to be said for the notion that most of todays technology is leading us, as a species, towards inevitable redundancy. Is it only a matter of time before online environments break free of their tenuous connection to the physical realm? We may see ourselves as omnipotent creators, but Frankensteins inventor had similar delusions. Without the pesky boundaries of time or space, the hyper-real possibilities engendered by technology and already all around us, seem endless. Perhaps this is why new media is growing exponentially as a means to explore artistic practice. Digital technologies facilitate a unique form of expression and experimentation, so indeed once again, to quote an overused but accurate phrase - the medium is the message.
However, despite the possibilities of new media, much artwork that utilises the latest technology still posits viewers in the same way as more traditional mediums: as secondary observers, absorbing the work from afar, perhaps crucial to its interpretation but definitely not its creation. Jordana Maisie is not of this school. Her work exists to be played with, and it only truly comes into being through the interaction of the viewer.
As an artist working predominantly in video, sound and interactive installation work, Maisies practice interrogates the relationships between technology, physical space and the human body. She is interested in how digital technologies continuously shift the way we experience and interact. Her recent body of work has been concerned with creating physical manifestations of this notion of interconnectedness. Whether between humans or humans and technology, she seeks ways to produce a sense of interdependence within her work.
In this latest offering, Potential Energy, the artist cleverly walks down two lines of simultaneous inquiry. The first is concerned with the simple notion of cause and effect, albeit of course with a technological bent. Here, a series of 24 galvanised metal chains hang from ceiling to floor in a single row, creating a corridor the length of the gallery. Using infrared sensor technology, vertical waves shimmer along the chains from floor to ceiling and then back down again, triggered by movement within the space. The work draws on a history of kinetic art practice but it is not a piece to be pondered from afar. The viewer is invited into the artistic process, gently but importantly implicated as co-creator. Physical movements are relayed into wave patterns that trickle along the length of the chains. Move and see what effect you can have.
So now we enter the playful side of Maisies work and there inevitably is one where the viewer is dared to literally test out the possibilities of the piece. In this way Potential Energy, like Maisies giant kaleidoscope and her interactive video work, curiously probes and charges the space between the viewer and the work. It solicits a moment of collaboration between the artist and her audience, and in a cheeky and quirky manner pays homage to the open source culture that exists today. Within the microcosm of the gallery, it is a visual manifestation of the ripple effect we have on our physical environment, a timely reminder of our potential impact on the world around us. And despite the dependency on and celebration of technology in Maisies work, it also light-heartedly preferences the body, grounding us in a very physical realm, if only for the fleeting present.
Written by Talia Linz
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9:51Work and Energy (part 2)by khanacademy97,338 views
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