'
Adventures in Feedback', an
exhibition of recent work by
Mark Eaglen is currently on show at
Galeri Caernarfon. A couple of the smaller pieces were ‘premiered’ last year alongside
my
‘Night / Light’ photographs at Oriel Maenofferen, and those small but
beautifully formed sculptural pieces were just a hint of what was to come from
the mind of Mark in the twelve months since. Some of the work you will see in
this current show is not actually there…
Eaglen is a
technomage, merging lo-fi audio-visual technology and high-brow showmanship. The
work is highly personal, yet the yearning nostalgia for analogue and childhood
wonder will resonate with many. The ‘Transmission Call’ holographic piece brings to
mind afternoons rushing back from the shops and eagerly awaiting the television
picture to ‘warm-up’ as we listened to the recap from the previous week’s episode
of ‘Doctor Who’. The sculpture is a simplified 1970s TV set laying on its back,
as if discarded at a particularly clean and respectful recycling depot. As the
viewer approaches it, the dark screen seems to exude a faintly glowing form,
the reaction of the viewer attracts the attention of those nearby, who of
course cannot see the same thing unless they too come closer. They are drawn to
this holographic ‘sculpture’ that floats above the screen like a ghost image,
as intangible as a memory.
Like most
of the work here, this piece is an exploration of feedback and its form has
been created by recording an (analogue) feedback pattern, selecting a ‘frame’
and then assigning the colour and tonal values a three-dimensional depth using
a (digital) computer. This three-dimensional ‘graph’ has then been converted to
a hologram and now appears as an object that does not really exist.
It relies
on basic interaction with the viewer, who has to stand in a particular place in
order to see the complete picture. The person stood next to them will see
something slightly different, in much the same way as no two people see exactly
the same rainbow. I am reminded of the time I saw Marcel Duchamp’s kinetic
sculpture from the 1920s titled, ‘Rotary Glass Plates (Precision Optics)’, at
the Museum of Modern Art in Barcelona. Duchamp’s piece consisted of sets
of glass plates mounted on a motorised drive shaft. On the plates were arcs carefully
painted to create partial circles. When the motor switches on and spins the
plates, it creates the illusion of concentric circles hovering in the air – this
illusion only works for those stood one metre directly in front of the machine.
Duchamp was
the first artist to really start examining art as a process and to really
recognise it as an ongoing ‘conversation’ between the artist and the wider
social circle of the audiences. Though nearly all art relies on some sort of
object, the art is not that object. The art begins in the mind of the artist, and
then continues in the mind of the viewer. The object is a medium. By focussing
on feedback, Eaglen has extended this consideration of process into another ‘loop’:
an artist does not create in an isolated ‘bubble’, they are a product of the
way that their mind interacts with, and is influenced by, many aspects of the
culture that surrounds them. By exhibiting their work, they are presenting it
to that wider culture which, to a lesser or greater extent, is then altered by
its presence. That altered culture is, in turn, experienced by the artist. A
feedback loop has begun.
Other works
on show include series of intricate little drawings that shimmer with silvers.
Again, the viewer must experience these, first-hand, as they will not translate
easily through scans or prints and even these change, depending upon the
position of the viewer and the angle of light. There are some audio-visual works and an interactive piece
that uses video cameras and projectors to create a feedback loop that you can
play with, providing endless delight for children and the child within us all –
and again, no two experiences of this subtle work will be the same. There are many
tiny delicate forms and a larger wire mesh sculpture that creates a feedback
pattern in the eye of the beholder as they approach the form. It looks like it
could be a scientific model of something organic.
Although the
art space at the Galeri is small and oddly shaped, this exhibition fits perfectly
as it has lots of small detail, cleanly and elegantly presented. It is not a
large exhibition, but it will reward the viewer who spends time to engage with
it. The lasting impression that I came away with was a simple beauty born out
of chaos and complexity.
Or go to
the Galeri website for more information about his current exhibition.
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