Connected, for the Moment

Connected, for the Moment grew out of the body of work that I put together for "Mechanical Hand", my 2023 solo exhibition at Unit London. The core idea of that work was to explore the relationship between the hand and the machine, and between the digital and the physical. Most of the work in that show was executed with physical media, often examining how digital ideas are transformed when they are brought into the analog realm. However, for Connected, I wanted to examine this relationship and transformation from the other direction.

The core ideas for the algorithm began with studies of hand-draw lines. Without aid, the hand cannot draw a straight line. I was interested in exactly how the hand tends to deviate away from the "ideal" line (which of course the computer executes not just with ease, but in fact with strong and significant preference). The hand does not merely add randomness to the line. Analog processes never do. There is always a systematic component to the deviations because the execution happens via a system - in this case, the system of muscles, bones, joints, tendons, and ligaments in the arm and hand. Algorithms are therefore a powerful way to investigate the systematic deviations. I eventually created a small set of rules and processes which captured most of what I found significant in the way the hand tended to stray, and began to (algorithmically) draw my own lines with these characteristics.

Eventually, I moved on from this more academic side of the work, and began to play with imagery. As always, my process was exploratory, and so I had no final vision in mind as I worked. Instead, the pieces came together over time and the core of the work revealed itself to me, in a way.

Looking back, I see elements of some of my favorite painters here, particularly Franz Kline and Richard Diebenkorn. They both had something systematic to their work, especially Diebenkorn.

For me, the work also hovers somewhere between the abstract and the memory. It seems to conjure up the feeling of a place I've been, or a view I've seen. Touches of windows and landscapes are there, along with shelves and wires and books. There is a small world there, in each work.

Notable Moments

Connected, for the Moment #1 was acquired by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) in December 2023.