Simon Finn. Recent works

Transcription

1 Simon Finn Recent works

2 Pier Collapse Stage one Charcoal on paper, 170 X 90cm (2012).

3 Downward spiral Charcoal on paper, 160 X 90cm (2013).

4 Synthetic surge Charcoal on paper, 150 X 85cm (2012).

5 Archaeologist of Aesthetics Like some kind of demon spawn of H.G. Wells and M.C. Escher, Simon Finn is explorer, machinist, topographer, a mad scientist of the finest ilk travelling the vortexes of time and space in baroque vehicles that meld the aesthetics of the 17 th Century with the frisson of the 22 nd. It seems that whatever arcane subject Finn turns his thoughts to; they are explored, dissected, eviscerated, exenterated and then rebuilt, reconsidered and rejuvenated. Media, it seems, are simultaneously irrelevant and crucial. Irrelevant in that it simply doesn t seem to matter what media he utilizes sculpture, charcoal, 3D rendering, photography, video can all be brought into play. Crucial in that he seems to have the ability to comfortably master them all. He will, and does, adapt and illustrate his key themes via the medium most suited to the immediate task. While these works are clearly painstakingly rendered, they retain a strange urgency, as though NASA has set him a searing deadline for immediate completion with the caveat that they must function; too much is at stake for any chance of failure. The combination of a virulent imagination, insatiable curiosity and a simple love of tinkering combine in a combustible outpouring of Finn s much- loved spatial and temporal representation. In other words (or worlds) the bodily forms of time and space and its accompanying notions of entropy and rebirth. In the case of this particular body of work, represented by the deep sea and deep space. Core to these works is Finn s passion for deep- sea diving, an unusually physical activity for a contemporary artist. But then physicality is also core to his practice. Finn doesn t just imagine these images. He builds them before working out how to dismantle them and then working out how to record every step of the practice. But in doing so, and affecting his images with such strident and almost uncanny resemblance to their source, Finn creates a strange and unnerving question as to what is the real. Like a Philip K. Dick science fiction story, Finn creates a simulacra, a world that is both real and not. This is, arguably, what makes his work so seductive; we become immersed in Finn s fictional explorations. Time is played into question the camera(s) in Downward Spiral are arrayed in a baroque, symphonic pattern more suggested of a Victorian staircase than an array of high- tech equipment. Stages of Descent resembles a sea anemone, a creature from Verne s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea or a H.R. Giger design for Alien. It s a giddy ride diving with Simon Finn. As an explorer of both time and space, an archaeologist of aesthetics, he is truly unique. He may still be an emerging artist, but it is a beguiling experience finding oneself submerged in his spiral simulacra. Ashley Crawford

6 Spiral Charcoal on paper, 200 X 100cm (2013).

7 Conceal Charcoal on paper, 200 X 100cm (2013).

8 Reveal Charcoal on paper, 200 X 100cm (2013).

9 Black Flag Progression one Charcoal on paper, 160 X 85cm (2011).

10 Pier Collapse series:

11 Black Flag series:

12 Installation works:

13 Video works:

14 Sculpture and drawing relationships:

15 Production overview 1. INTRODUCTION Computation can effectively represent highly complex processes, from which series of sequential static images can be derived directly. This is due to the unique sovereignties over spatial and temporal representation that it affords. This opportunity for complex spatiotemporal simulation offered by digital technologies allows a subversion of the computer s traditional role as an image production device, through its use in my own work to create preliminary sketches as a basis for sequential pieces finished in traditional analogue forms. I am currently exploring these connections via the presentation of a variety of spatial and temporal sequential imagery in a series of exhibitions, and supporting contextual research. 2. WORKFLOW The workflow for this investigation begins with 3D modelling of found artefacts [fig 1] in Autodesk Maya, from which a new structure is developed. Once a complex digital model is completed, it is run through a physics simulation to degrade its original structure. A sample of various stages in this process is also 3D printed using a fused deposition modelling process [fig. 2]. The range of static imagery generated by this process is then staged and reinterpreted through the hand using traditional drawing processes [fig. 3]. This final set of drawn work then forms the basis for curated exhibitions [figs 1-3]. 2. GROUNDS AND PRACTICE MODELS The grounds for this direction derive from recent work on theories of apparent motion [1]. This work has proven vital in dispelling inaccurate accounts of the mechanics of the recognition of motion in film through obsolete notions of persistence of vision. In my case, this modern approach to moving image construction has offered a strong framework for considering the validity of artistic experimentation with a motion- based subject matter that disperses into the static. As the perception of motion in sequential images is constructed cognitively rather than through retinal persistence, my work asks the viewer to explore this process through foregrounding the constructed and the staged. The direction of my research is further supported by an investigation of a variety of historical approaches to image construction, where each of these supportive prior examples has been conditioned by an artistic focus on a work s ability to operate as sequential art. Through this aspect of the research, I have begun to map both an historical territory and simultaneously a sampling of wordless narratives that draws linkages between sequential art and my current studio practice. The range of works sampled is intended to inform a contemporary approach that is based in spatial and temporal sequentiality, and includes work from practitioners as diverse as Hogarth, Duchamp, Marey and Guo- Qiang. 3. FURTHER DIRECTIONS Exploring these connections has raised questions surrounding the instability of digital depictions in an age of increased image saturation, whether new ways of interpreting meaning through art practice become evident when the construction process is slowed down through the act of making, and what the consequences for drawing will be when simulation technology is considered the initial sketch? 4. REFERENCES [1] Anderson & Anderson, "The Myth of Persistence of Vision Revisited," Journal of Film and Video, Vol. 45, No. 1 (Spring 1993): 3-12.

16 Biography: In 2013 Simon completed a Masters of Fine Art (Research) at the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne, Australia. He has previously studied Electronic Design and Interactive Media at Swinburne University and received First Class Honors in Fine Art at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. His recent solo exhibitions include Vertex Vortex, Fehily Contemporary (2013) Melbourne, Warning MOANA Project Space (2013) Perth, Synthetic Surge Beam Contemporary Art Space (2012), and Synthetic Animated Realities George Paton Gallery (2012). Simon s 2014 group exhibitions include Surge Plymouth College of Art England (2014) and Vertigo Galeri Soemardja, Institute of Technology Indonesia, Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA), Taiwan and POSCO Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea and the Linden Art Prize. Other recently curated group exhibitions include Modern Ruin, Substation Centre for Art & Culture (2013), NOW13- New Media Art Darkhorse experiment (2013), Down to the Line, Bett Gallery (2013), Dark Nature C3 Contemporary (2012). Simon was also the winner of the NotFair s, Howard Arkley Award Primal Mutation (2012) and the Kedumba Drawing Award (2012), and a finalist in the Paul Guest Drawing Prize (2012), the Dobell Drawing Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales (2011) and the Banyule Works on Paper Award (2011). Simon is a Lecturer in Animation and Games Design within a Bachelor of Interactive Entertainment. Fehily Contemporary represents Simon in Melbourne and Drawing Centre Viewing program, New York. He has accumulated extensive experience as a 3D visualisation artist for a range of international clientele and production and post- production experience in film and television in Australia and Canada.

17 Contact: (03)