Spirit Pond, 2024

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Exhibited in tandem with the written component "Streaming Consciousness: Multimedia Creative Practice as Embodiment of Technological Affect".

Spirit Pond is a collection of six high-definition videos, each consisting of a full-screen, three-minute recording of distorted flesh.The body is portrayed in these videos is intentionally nondescript, filmed at such close proximity that its exact location on the body is obscured.

Each recording emphasizes features such as hair, veins, bumps, marks, wrinkles, and discoloration. The videos are displayed on separate monitors, arranged on the floor to mimic the appearance of a body of water, inviting viewers to reflectively gaze downward. Each recording functions as a semi-durational performance in which the artist contorts their body to stretch out and expose a section of skin. This exposed skin is filmed with a high-definition digital camera at an intimate distance, capturing details.

As the performance progresses, the body succumbs to exhaustion, resulting in tremors and shakes that manifest on camera as dramatic movements. These videos are then distorted through various visual programming techniques, such as blob tracking and feedback loops. The distortions are designed to highlight and accentuate minute details by outlining detected shifts in colour and texture, replacing them with hundreds of thousands of small black squares, effectively rendering the flesh into sites of affective disruption. Through this obfuscation, the body and what it embodies become more visible than ever.
 

6 x Single-channel videos, 4K: 3m, looped.

Dimensions variable.

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Exhibited as a part of Limen at SASA Gallery.

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This work was created and conceptualized on Kaurna Country.

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Photography by James Field