Abstract:
This essay investigates several philosophical and psychoanalytical theories concerning the divide; as paradox, as bias, as causation, as a means of engaging with the global environmental crisis, and as a provocation for contemporary art. Critically, the artist strives to understand how humanity can be at once - embedded in the biosphere, whilst equipped with the power to manipulate and destroy it. Section One of this essay contemplates the magnitude and intangibility of the ecological crisis, through a comparative reading of Timothy Morton’s “Hyper-objects” and Jeffery Cohen’s histography of Giant folk-lore. Section Two investigates how we perceive the world (phenomenally), and think about the world (analytically), contemplating the concept of the divide - as natural – or as metaphysically universal. Concepts of duality and gestalt, are also examined as formative structures of relativity, through the writing of Gail Weiss and Ted Toadvine. Section Three recognises contemporary arts involvement in wider socio-ecological issues. Timothy Morton and Quanta Gauld investigate the trauma of dislocation, recognising the capacity of the arts to facilitate change. Gauld identifies interactive art as a means of restoring cultures connection to place, through empathetic engagement. Section Four re-considers cultures innate tendency toward change - as a force for good - through the writing of Alexandra Maryanski. Culture’s constant pursuit of novelty, reflecting the phenomenal body’s search for complex contingencies. These theories inspire the artist to re-frame sensory engagement, innovating ways to “read” climate, intuit “change”, and inspire “thought”. Section Five turns to the field of psychoacoustics, reading from Mary Brazier, Murray Schafer and Bob Snyder. This section explores three key relationships: sound and mind, sound and place, and gestalt and memory. Section Six introduces two inspiring sound artists who have translated environmental experiences into sound, Athanasius Kircher and Bernard Krause. Section Seven considers the influence of technology on culture, before describing two key technological processes used in the exhibition “Of Giants”. Section Eight presents an interior perspective of the exhibited works, discussing each of the four figures in relation to conceptual and technological development. It also elaborates on the inclusion of schematic wall drawings, to signify withdrawn aspects of climate.