Artist Statement
My Practice
The question: What defines me? has fascinated since childhood. We rarely question the subjectivity of our existence and yet it is core to our humanity.
For me, creative practice is a non-verbal experience. It involves a different kind of thinking. I am still surprised that by engaging in play you can, sometimes, touch something deeper. Artwork is created by reflecting on these moments and distilling the results into concrete forms.
The line between chaos (our sensory and subjective view of the universe) and the void, that unknown area inside (our spirit, soul, unconscious) is a fascinating one. I would argue that we consciously and proactively construct our universe. We constantly redefine ourselves as we fight to rationalise our existence. This definition is constantly shifting, breaking and transforming as new ideas are discovered and old ideas challenged. It is this line, the conscious construction, that much of my work seeks to explore.
Virtual Space
Virtual space, that place that exists on the other side of the computer screen, is not real. It is a symbolic construction; conscious and man made. Virtual space is defined and manipulated using symbolic interfaces. These interfaces include; the desktop (Microsoft Windows, Apple Desktop, Linux KDE), applications (Adobe Photoshop, 3D Max) and programming languages (Lingo, Java, C++). Virtual space is defined and experienced through these interfaces and only exists in the mind of the person, or persons, engaging with them.
As a medium, virtual space is both powerful and engaging. Applications such as Macromedia Director and programming languages such as Lingo make it possible to create self contained and dynamic worlds; worlds with their own reality, rules and behaviours. For the artist, these worlds can provide glimpses, insights and moments impossible in any other medium.
Creating within this medium is both intense and challenging. Anyone who has programmed will know how the computer reflects thoughts and concepts instantly and ruthlessly. Computers do exactly what they are told to do. The challenge is to know what to instruct. Creative practice becomes, in part, a conscious effort to conceptualise often requiring significant reflection to concretise ideas. It also exposes you to unexpected results, which, on reflection, can provide valuable avenues for exploration.
Directions
The existential dilemma is well trodden ground. Artists, such as Rothko, have explored the subject very successfully through the immersive surface of the large canvas. But little work of this nature exists within the virtual medium. Capturing the aesthetic in a virtual object is still difficult, let alone the something that communicates with the unconscious or soul.
I am keen to see if truly contemplative artwork can be created within the medium of virtual space. The physicality of our modern world is being blurred as virtual space extends the boundaries of our being. As technology becomes transparent and our world extends, the need for more than just technology will emerge.
We need spaces and places, both physical and virtual, to stop and be.
Ian Upton. December 2004.