Presentation
The presentation of the plaster objects and the demonstration of the artificial intelligence combined to form my end of year exhibition art work. Began with the idea of presenting a live experiment of the solving of the video game Pong projected inside the plaster objects Qualia but devolved into an edited movie Solve in which I recorded ten minutes per hour of the experiment leading to an edited video of an hour in duration. This was a solution to overcome the technical difficulties for the duration of the degree show of restarting and running the experiment in a live environment.
I have opted for simple solutions to both aspects, the objects and video in terms of physical presentation, this is a conscious decision derived from an ideal lack of artifice that I believe would serve only to distract and negate the simplicity of the work and its core concepts, namely the intellectual space of contemplation that I wished to engender in my viewers.
This resulted in a very simple, yet large plinth painted only in an undercoat of grey, which I hoped would contrast well with the white plaster and a simple linear arrangement of the objects. Thus allow viewers to examine the object easily from all angles, both the internal smooth surface and the external surface texture. Reiterating the lack of artifice and intentionally emphasising the fragility and thinness of the objects. Where they, as a tutor remarked, become almost invisible against the white wall of the studio.
The presentation of the video was more problematic. Finally resting on the idea to hang a single projector above the work, facing downwards, so as to have the video shown inside one of the plaster objects and avoiding dazzling the viewer with the projector bulb. The room lighting is shared with other exhibits, where originally I wished for natural light I am not adverse to any of the options available. Under spotlight for example shadow play is predominant and the video is stronger. Which is fine and in natural light the whiteness of the plaster comes into its own and the video is softer. I have opted to go with whatever lighting is used by the other exhibits. It feels like the right decision.
Given different circumstances I may have opted to utilise a second space to project or as originally intended run a live projected experiment. Neither option being feasible in this iteration of the work.
Curation
The curation of the video was a simple editing process, when I had decided to take that option. The aim with the video is not to entice the viewer to watch the entire video as it is agonising to watch as a “film”. I also left to chance as to what stage of the solve the viewer would see when looking at the work, simply looping the video continuously throughout the exhibition. In a sense the video is proof of concept as a means to outline future ambition.
Qualia was less of a curatorial problem. The objects tended to have limited lifespans due to the fragility. The smaller objects were discounted as candidates for exhibit, a larger object developed a hole in the otherwise smooth surface, discounting it as a candidate. One large sphere that would have made it through the selection process fell to misadventure. Whilst I attempted to overproduce so as to give myself options. There were clear choices (favourites) of which of the objects would be finally chosen.
