WHERE'S THE BEATING HEART?

Where's the Beating Heart? Oil on linen 112 x 92 cm 2022

Photo: Rob Frith

This new painting relates to my last painting On The Edge of Being 

Human-Machine

In both paintings I visually question the human-machine relationship, including increasing developments and expectations of these relationships. Using a visual ambigramatic [after Douglas Hofstadter] ploy in both paintings, I have painted tree-like patterns as if they are about to merge, or maybe even repel each other. It's your choice to decide! An ambigram can be read, with multiple meanings, in both an upside and downside orientation. But, they can also be read as the same....

The tree-like patterns are those of a natural tree or branching system [roots, vascular, leaves, lines on our palms etc], plus tree-like patterns uses in computer science ie: tree logic, neural networks, chip boards etc. In Where's the Beating Heart? the upper oval represents natural life and systems, and the lower oval represents coded systems and their correlative hardware. Like an ambigram, the painting could be turned the other way - maybe orientation depends on aesthetics, but also beliefs about humanity, technology and the future?

Patterns

I am not a computer scientist, nor am I an arborist, but as an artist I like to look for patterns, and I like to present what I see as provocations to prod questions. Regular readers will know that I have a keen interest in technology, undertaking technical research to inform my work. These readers will also know that my current PhD research examines increasing military interest in the electromagnetic spectrum [EMS - radio, microwave etc frequencies]. Without consistent uncongested or uncontested access to signal-transmitting frequencies in the EMS, much of our contemporary technology would flounder.  

Theatre of War

Both On the Edge of Being and Where's the Beating Heart? have been inspired by my research, particularly my interest in the idea of 'theatre of war', a phrase often used by 19the century General Carl von Clausewitz in his famous tome On War. Clearly the contemporary  'theatre of war' is different to the 19th century idea of 'theatre of war', but if war is seen as a performance, I do think performativity is still a component of war. We now have 'roles' played by technological systems and hardware that are militarised and militarise-able. Militarise-ability of civilian systems/hardware is a key interest of mine ie: connectivity, interconnectivity and interoperability of systems/hardware, are enabled by signals transmitted via EMS frequencies. New modes of war, such as cyber, information, hybrid, and network-centric warfare draw civilian systems into the 'theatre'. One example is the use of social media for information warfare - there are many other examples.

Heart

Where's the Beating Heart? poses questions about human being-ness and technological utility. As autonomous components are embedded into systems, human speed is bypassed. I ask, isn't human speed, the pace at which we work and think, part of our being-ness? This is just one of many questions I ask myself, and embed in my work. The tree-logic pattern 'pulses' with a predominantly red centre of painted conduits. Is this a fake heart? 

There's more to say, but I will leave that to you! 

Cheers, 

Kathryn

 

INTERFACE

 

Interface Gouache on paper 56 x 76 cm 2022

My head is full of ideas. Interface is a result of thinking about a lot of things. I've been writing and researching for my PhD, and this painting has been inside my head - my imagination - for a few weeks. 

Here are some ideas, books and thoughts that have influenced Interface 

• Douglas Hofstader.
  I read Hofstadter's Godel, Escher and Bach (GEB) a number of years ago. A complex, innovative and imaginative book. During my PhD research my supervisor mentioned ambigrams. I did some research and realised that Hofstadter had invented the ambigram. Although I've often pondered his ideas of  recursion, I had forgotten that he had written briefly about ambigrams in GEB. For Hofstadter, an ambigram is a "calligraphic design that manages to squeeze two different readings into the selfsame set of curves" (GEB, p. P-19). It is something, presented in an aesthetic visual manner, that can be read in both up and down orientations.
  
  As regular readers know, I often use painted binary code as a way to 'play' with and parody ideas of digital technology. The painted code represents the object or thing that I am painting or expressing. I enjoy hand painting something that is normally represented so precisely in digital media. In Interface, binary code for the word HUMAN is reflected in the text HUMAN. I am visually 'playing' with up and down orientations and meanings. The painting poses questions about what it means to be human in a world where human-machine relationships are increasing. For example, what about human work, including creative work, being co-opted or assisted by algorithms?
  
  The 'reflection' of the binary code in the word HUMAN, and vice versa, is a kind of ambigrammatic ploy to question how we might maintain a sense of being human in the twenty-first century. The code and the word HUMAN are like shadows, but can we see them? Maybe they are shadows of shadows? Where does that place us?
  
  The word 'interface' is both a noun and a verb. What kinds of 21st century technological interfaces should we be aware of, as we interact and interface with them? 
  
  
• The Cloud.
  Here I mean the technological 'cloud' - the Internet of Things (IoT) where interconnectivity and interoperability keep human beings in relationship with technological devices and systems. We cannot avoid, indeed escape, interfacing in the 21st century! Maybe this is what the shadows of shadows tells us? The background of Interface appears to be a cloudy tumultuous sky -  but  - is it a stormy sea? 
  
  
• More Cloud
  Keeping with the 'cloud' theme, rather than the blue background representing a cloudy sky, I deliberately painted the binary code and letters in white to provide an alternative. Maybe the code/text is 'the cloud'. If you - the viewer - imagine looking up at this fake cloud, the blue background is a sky, even the cosmos. If you imagine being above the fake text-cloud, then the blue background is possibly a tumultuous sea. Maybe you are in front or behind the 'cloud', where it turns into a wall or barrier? This kind of imaginational flight, from below, to above, to around and beyond, is a critical form of engagement. I call it - imaginational metaveillance. 
   
• Painting
  The paint medium requires no technological digital or cyber interfaces, yet it can be used to critique them. The hand of a human being is clearly evident. The dynamism between the paint and the paper surface, between the text and the background, 'speak' to relationships rather than interfaces. They 'speak' to relating rather than interfacing.
  
  
• And, then there are ideas of post-humanity. 
  
  
• And, of course, one of my major interests/concerns - militarised technology and the militarise-ability of civilian technology. In an interconnected and interoperable world interfaces and interfacing are key!
  
  
• But, I will stop here and let you ponder!

Cheers,

Kathryn