Compression culture is the title and theme for this curated group exhibition opening in November 2015. The exhibition has been developed by staff from Media Department specifically for the Vertical Gallery in Manchester School of Art, Benzie Building. All work was selected through open proposals from staff, researchers and research students from the Department of Media, MIRIAD and Art in response to the theme of the exhibition. Compression is a type of formatting that extends across all types of digital media. According to Wikipedia, Lossy compression reduces bits by identifying unnecessary information and removing it. The uncompressed brings forth thoughts on the weight, breadth and depth of an experience. Colour, tone and detail achieve their full and intended potential. Though the uncompressed is also heavy, it cannot be moved around so easily. On the other hand, the reduced size and lightness of the compressed makes space for more. To squash, pinch, clip or cut-off allows room for the multiple and the many. The work in the exhibition ranges from film and video, to sound and photography, and 3D print. In terms of scale hanging of the exhibition the emphasis was placed on curating works in a discrete and almost furtive manner. Rather than attempting to compete with the extensive scale of the gallery walls and walkways, the aim is to focus on the exhibition theme, emphasising the small, and compressed works; the selection of works question the ramifications of amputating the extremes of experience, perception, and memory. The curatorial team comprises of Jacqueline Butler,Chris Paul Daniels, Toby Heys and David Penny, the intention, to make an architectural analogy to the dynamics of compression, the exhibition will be located across the middle three floors of the Benzie Vertical Gallery, the curators’ intention is to cut out the vertical extremes of this challenging architectural space. The exhibition opens with a Private View on Thursday 26th November 2015 between 5–7 pm and continues until 15th January 2016.
Edmund Keefe
For Edmund Keefe the third dimension has always been an obsession, initially starting with perspective drawing and progressing on to making objects with clay. However the arrival of his first computer, a Sinclair ZX Spectrum in 1982 changed everything. Unlike a lot of kids at the time he didn't use the machine for playing games, instead he used it to draw pictures, spending endless hours creating work pixel by pixel and watching the results appear on the TV screen in a kind of 8 bit ‘Pointillism’. Eventually more powerful PC’s appeared that were capable of running 3D software which allowed him to develop his work in the Virtual Domain.
He went on to a career working creating visuals for architects and designers and pushed his skills by producing concept designs. “I’ve made a lot of spaceships, and been influenced by artists such as Umberto Boccioni, Constantin Brâncuși, Eduardo Paolozzi, Ralph McQuarrie, Scott Robertson and Syd Mead.I also worked with traditional materials using oil paint on paper and Plaster of Paris to create abstract paintings with 3D features scratched and etched into the surface.”
With the mainstream arrival of 3D printers Keefe was finally able to bring his work out of the computer and into the real world in 3D form for the first time. Industrial 3D printers that use gypsum powder as the building material proved ideal and they are also capable of producing works in full 64 bit colour.
Exploring the relationship between 2D and 3D or the compression of space into a flat surface lets the artist manipulate visual information in order to produce new and unexpected forms. The virtual environment lets one travel over, under, around and through an object and can do this in orthographic view removing both the perspective and the solid nature of the real world.
This is the point where his work often starts. Some piece of computer geometry interacting with other elements in the virtual scene will catch his attention and form the direction and outcome of the work. The 3D forms are rendered out as 2D work and then manipulated using Photoshop and then re-used to create new abstract 3D forms and virtual landscapes which are then further combined to create the final 3D Printed work.
Software: 3ds Max from Autodesk and Photoshop from Adobe. Hardware: Alienware workstation from DELL and a 660 PowderJet Colour printer from 3D Systems.