Katie Parker Explores The Fundamentals

In her latest work, Grade XH 16.9, New Zealand artist Katie Parker has chosen to explore the fundamentals of video and sculpture by producing a visually haptic experience in which the eyes do the touching.

Although Katie has worked sculpturally for a long time, she recently reached the point of juncture between sculpture and video through her fascination with photography and the idea of capturing images. But then Katie realised that she wasn’t satisfied with merely documenting her work. Instead, she set out to elevate video from its two-dimensional screen-based form and manipulate it into something that enabled a sense of touch. Katie concluded that in order to do this, the imagery within her video needed to be transformed by its very supports.

Both of the works featured in the Grade XH 16.9 were documented with the aim to materialise the projection space and give the viewer an experience that utilises and highlights the space between the projector, receiving surface and audience. Through her experimentations in creating the video, Katie found that she revelled in the awkwardness and humour she found in her work. She watched as pixels illuminated when the looping video of an atomic bomb passes through the lens like domes set into facing walls and set about squeezing the atomic bomb and its epic proportions into a tiny round viewing space that the viewer has to look down into.

As a result, the two artworks featured in this video play with the idea that when we view something, it too looks back at us; a constant exchange, where the object being viewed does not just passively receive the onlooker’s gaze.

Details

• Art by

  Katie Parker

• Band

  Dirty Beaches