Jordana Maisie

Potential Energy 2009

Project description

There is something to be said for the notion that most of today’s technology is leading us, as a species, towards inevitable redundancy. Is it only a matter of time before online environments break free of their tenuous connection to the physical realm? Despite the possibilities of new media, much artwork that utilises the latest technology still posits viewers in the same way as more traditional mediums: as secondary observers, absorbing the work from a distance, perhaps crucial to its interpretation but definitely not its creation. I am not of this school. My work exists to be played with, and it only truly comes into being through the interaction of the viewer. 'Potential Energy' is concerned with creating physical manifestations of this notion of interconnectedness. Whether between humans, or humans and technology, I seek ways to produce a sense of interdependence within my work. In 'Potential Energy', I walk down two lines of simultaneous inquiry. The first is concerned with the simple notion of cause and effect, albeit of course with a technological bent. Here, a series of 24 galvanised metal chains hang from ceiling to floor in a single row, creating a corridor the shape of the gallery. Using infrared sensors, motors and handcrafted vero boards, vertical waves shoot up and back down the chains when triggered by bodies moving in the space. This work draws on a history of kinetic art practice but it is not a piece to be pondered from afar. The viewer is invited into the artistic process, gently but importantly implicated as co-creator.