nanotopia
mycelium, Toronto
My jewellery serves as maquettes and experiments for my sculpture.
The majority of my work draws from my fascination with the artistic representation of natural history, the creation of fictitious places in literature and my interest in Cordyceps fungus in particular, Cordyceps Unilateralis, a species of entomopathogenic fungus that infects and alters the behaviour of ants in order to ensure the widespread distribution of its spores.
The body of work, An unNatural History created for Urban Glass Brooklyn and featured during SOFA, NY is an example of this passion to bring the micro-cosmos to the macro through metal and glass 'wearable' maquettes. Past work/installations: Descent to Perelandra based upon C.S. Lewis' Perelandra, and Orbis Tertius based upon the short story of the same title by Jorge Luis Borges were instances where I imagined artifacts, and transgenic organisms that may have been suggested or read between the lines, from these stories.
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non-invasive implant- sterling silver, LEDs, midi Part of Tekne installation Harbourfront Centre, Toronto
Sterling silver, soda lime glass: Part of Descent to Perelandria installation Urban Glass, Brooklyn
Lost wax cast lead crystal, reindeer leather-part of BEAST performative installation Corning Museum, NY GAS conference
non-invasive implant- sterling silver, LEDs, midi Part of Tekne installation Harbourfront Centre, Toronto
Four months in Iceland will enable time to focus, research & develop work.
From audible (sensor triggered) objects, augmented realities, building soundscapes, working with scents, weather and imagery.
My research is focussing on the potential psychological {memory}, and spatial affect imagined reality/virtual reality, immersive installation(s) may have on people.
Some of the first experiments involve soft circuit sculptures with sensors that trigger sound, pitch modulation and filters. Binaural soundscapes/field recordings create an audial mnemonic within the environment...
Part of the physical body of work involves the alternative photographic process of liquid emulsion, as well as emulsion lifts onto stones, wood, glass castings, ceramic and found ephemera discovered while exploring Skagaströnd and other areas around Iceland. Documenting the land and people around me, projecting these images onto stones and debris discovered on walks through various neighbourhoods and locations. Holding or touching these objects will open stories/sounds about the land.
The work produced at Nes will standalone as well as contribute to a larger work in progress. depicting the 'spaces in-between’ : the molecules that surround us yet, we cannot see. For instance: The air we breath. Drawing from 400x imagery of Phytoplankton, Zooplankton, Radiolaria and Melethallia to create three dimensional sculptural representations. Phytoplankton account for half of all photosynthetic activity on Earth. Thus phytoplankton are responsible for much of the oxygen present in the Earth’s atmosphere – half of the total amount produced by all plant life. Similar to how Cordyceps infect and alter Leaf cutter ants, how might Phytoplankton infect and alter Human behaviour?
During my time at Nes these sculptural forms might manifest in paper, clay form and/or through found objects incorporating photographic emulsion lifts and field recordings/sound samples triggered through touch/light or proximity.
Andrei and I [nanotopia] are constructing a virtual representation of Niflheim. Visitors will be able to safely enter and exit the Niflheim via Gear and/or the Rift. The Niflheim will be a fully immersive sensory world of sight, sound, touch and scent; will you jump into Ginnungagap?
Meanwhile, we offer the following:
As it was, As it is, As it shall be again
Móðurfaðir
Löngu áður en jörðin var sköpuð var til heimur sem heitir Niflheimr langt, langt til norðurs. Svæðið var kalt og heimurinn var myrkur og kaldur eins og dauðinn. Í miðjum heiminum liggur mikill brunnur sá er Hvergelmir heitir og þaðan af falla ellefu ár uppfullar af eitri í vatninu. Ár þær eru kallaðar Élivágar og þá er þær voru langt komnar frá uppsprettunni harðnaði eitrið og varð að ís en móðan fraus og varð að hrími. Milli þessara heima var tóm, tómið mikla og það heitir Ginnungagap.
Long before Earth was created, there was a world called Niflheim, far, far away in the north. This was a chilly region, and the world was dark and deathly cold. In the middle of it lay a great well called Hvergelmir, out of which eleven rivers flowed with poison running in their waters. These rivers were called Elivogar, and when they flowed far from their source the poisonous materials hardened to ice and the spray from the waves turned to frost. Between these worlds was the void, the great void and it was called Ginnungagap.
Móðurfaðir is a collaboration between artists:
Andrei Gravelle, Tosca Terán and Kristveig Halldórsdóttir
The Transformation of Myth into Matter
Instagram: nanopodstudio
Soundcloud: nanotopia