The Cultivation Project, 2005
Though the results are different each time the process remains the same. This is what attracts me most to this work. The process that cultivates or allows for them to emerge into visual fields, is both mechanical and diversifying.
My interest in studying the panels as if they were specimens in a scientist's labratory is reflected in the manner they are handled during generation. I have done mutliple trials (21 in all for this test group). There is a great deal of care invested in preserving environmental equality levels while the panels are being worked on. This way they all receive equal influence from external forces. Once the quizzical research is completed the findings are presented to an art audience.
During the panels' development it was important to pay close attention to what was going on between each stage. To keep a record of what was happening I documented the panels' progression through the medium of digital photography. This way, the viewer can see how the gradual process of paint layering creates the variation seen in the final presentation. The digital "slideshow" images are projected in the space along with the 21 panels.
The video is very important to the project as a whole. By showing it with the paintings I am expressing my interest in how these paintings got to be the way they are, as well as my interest in their finished state. I do not subscribe to the argument that the panels need a video or vice versa. It's immaterial. The work is a project with several components. It would not make any sense unless they are all presented to the audience.
More components will be included in future projects, as my interest in investigating generative process has increased since the completion of this research.
