Subparallel:
Group Exhibition

Exhibition Runs: 29 September - 13 October

Opening Reception: 1st October // 12-4pm

Address: 656 Bridge Rd, Lower Ground RICHMOND VIC

Included Artists:

Nathan Jokovich
Mark Chu
Comp-syn
Mikkapedia
Jessica Goehring (LA)
Dion Horstmans
Richard Blackwell
James Little
Tom Blachford
Kane Alexander
Tom Adair
Howard Arkley
Adam Cullen
Felix Von Dallwitz
Taj Alexander

Subparallel explores the influence of the virtual world. Through artworks that represent, employ and prophesize, this collection uses new mediums and digital aesthetics to essentialize the virtual and explore its distinct visual identity. Symbolism abounds, revering forms reliant on mechanical transformation. New tools are popularized, like AI image generators which use language prompts; for artists embracing this new frontier, the medium is the subject. A foreboding sense of dystopia is balanced by hopeful exuberance, randomness and the inexplicable. Subparallel shows that the virtual can be as glorious as it is incomprehensible.

American artist Jessica Goehring employs AI image generator DALL-E using the text “LiDAR Nudes.” Atop leatherette, she layers a subtle kinetic energy through a sheer organza veil, questioning both viewer and artist’s distance from the technologic output. Mikkapedia also embraces the limit between human and machine, coining the term “phygital art” to encourage tactile interaction with digital mediums. Mikkapedia’s use of an electric LED fan embraces a medium which effectively visualizes the artist’s coding in real time, often preferred for commercial use.

Tom Blachford’s series draws from Subparallel’s brief to artists, feeding that text directly into a visualization generator Midjourney, reminding us that the virtual is more than capable of commenting on the virtual. This self-reflective framing is signature to the postmodern context of such cybertechnology, and highlights the thirst for digital artists to understand how or whether new technologies can think. Tom Adair’s figurative work depicts the strain of such self-reflection through his signature hand-sprayed CYMK aesthetic while Mark Chu’s looser painting renders the virtual gestural. Howard Arkley’s repeated motifs fuse primitive glyphs with psychedelia, anticipating Matrix-like code strings, and Adam Cullen’s threatening mutilation warns the viewer of an underworld.

Felix Von Dallwitz explores materiality and illusion through a curvaceous chrome-like composition, at once, abstract and figurative, still and liquid. With sharply acute angles, Dion Horstmans’ steel sculpture also warps perspectives by forcing the eye to jump from point to point, a work made by hand despite its precise geometry. Where those works question the symbolism of metal, Richard Blackwell takes solid surface material and directs robotic machinery to aid in the sculpting process, delivering the rhythmic accuracy of cyborg creativity. 

 Taj Alexander and James Little enhance the poetry of surfaces through colour, reflecting an otherworldly glow through the luminance of saturation. Nathan Jokovich’s grand sculptural work also uses colour to provoke the unknown by refusing the viewer’s focus. Printed on varying fabrics, these abstractions are made by forcing one digital medium (coded text) into another (a jpeg image file). Built with fabrics, chain metal, cables and Perspex, this mix media monolith evokes both awe and religious suffering. Comp-syn presents a figure from an Association of Computational Linguistics publication, bringing formal scientific research into the gallery with a TSNE map of all possible character strings, where existing words only represent one portion; here, all possible input terms for text generators are implied.


- Words by Mark Chu

 

 Proudly Supported by:

Almighty Drinks
Gage Road Brew Co

Jess Goehring (USA)
Tacenda I, 2022
Layered dye sublimation print on leatherette and organza
101x101cm

American artist Jess Goehring digitally manipulates images using established beauty apps in order to morph the image into something beyond the systems’ original intent. The heresy of beauty filters on the reality of our appearances is flipped back on itself through her extreme distortions that reveal the illusionary nature of these filters. Her digitized portraits are then brought to life as “analog hologram screens,” a format that deceives the senses and recreates a holographic AR experience in a real life format. The most recent works are created using a language and image generating AI program. Finished pieces are a representation of the artists input and the AI’s input creating a true analog and digital collaboration. 

Adam Cullen
Diva Satanica, 2008
Synthetic polymer paint on canvas
183x183cm

Today the appeal of sexuality offers fetishized and common stereotypes to anyone willing to expose their life online. In Diva Satanica perhaps it could be argued that love, sex, and even theory are disappearing in consumer cultures because our systems of finances and behaviors erode the Other in favor of sameness. This capitalist process has commodified Eros by removing the negatives we might experience when we desire the Other.

Mark Chu
You Have Arrived, 2022
Acrylic on canvas
76x101cm

This work takes Chu’s recent streetscapes into the virtual by including the designs and tools of Google Maps, as per a screenshot. Rendered through gestural layers of colour, this digital landscape is made more human, asking the viewer what it means to really be somewhere.

Tom Blachford
Capsule Dreams I, 2099
Photographic print on 100% cotton semigloss paper
120x97cm

Nihon Noir is a play on the Neo Noir Genre of cinema combined with the Japanese word for Japan (pronounced Nee-hon).

 The series explores the gamut of Japanese architecture following through from post war Modernism through to fantastical creations of the post-modern era of the 1990s.

The images are captured using only existing light sources and the resulting images are intended to be ambiguous of time. Buildings of the past captured in the present that look like a future we might one day reach. Shown in this image is the Nakagin Capsule tower, built in 1970 and designed by Kisho Kurokawa. In 2022 it was demolished after a decades long battle to save it. It now exists only in its digital and analog representations.

Dion Horstmans
Dark & Sinister #1, 2022
8mm steel bar. gloss black p/coat // 2mm steel cable (Ceiling hung)
130x190x90cm

Between the reality of the physical plane and subconscious sits the Subparallel an emotionally driven work, Dark & Sinister #1 highlights the power and contrast of manual human labour in a digital centric world while at the same time representing a sci-fi future.

Tom Blachford
Art(Official) Intelligence, 2022
Edition of 1. 100 Image loop @ 5 seconds on 4k Display
57x96cm

For this work the artist used Mid Journey, one of the current leaders in Ai Text to image creation by feeding the chatbot the first paragraph of the exhibition brief, “Our physical environment exists almost parallel to a virtual universe in which we are all contributors.” then allowed it to create its own interpretation.

Using parameters and specific codes the system understands the request that the images be 16:9 in format, be as different (chaotic) as possible from each other and that the final Up-Res command is performed “lightly” to avoid adding too much detail. 

This work raises questions of authorship, authenticity and the disposability of art in the new age where creating mind blowing images can be achieved with a smartphone in 50 seconds. 

Comp-Syn
The space of all character sequences, 2022
Unlimited print on archival cotton rag
85x85cm

This scientific figure is taken from a research article made by the multidisciplinary team Comp-Syn, made up of physicists, computer scientists, sociologists and artists. It depicts the vector space commonly used for language models like GPT3 and extrudes the relations into a space which encompasses pseudowords (unreal but pronounceable language) and garble (random character strings). In theory, every possible word encompasses this space, though only a small sample is shown. 

Richard Blackwell
kBps, 2022
Courtesy of Flinders Lane Gallery
Solid Surface Material and spray paint
86x158cm

Ideas of potentiality, traversal and illusion are central to Richard Blackwell’s interdisciplinary practice. Broadly his works highlight the mutable nature of materials, space and perception. Specifically they articulate the artist’s ongoing interest in the intersect between reality and the virtual. Within the clean graphic iterations of his abstract images we become aware of an intrinsic tension between the physical truth of his forms and their relationship to algorithmic chance, machine technologies and the implied. Blackwell is observing the conditions in which we negotiate an increasingly complex relationship to the digital world.

Kane Alexander
Immersion, 2022
Pigment print on platine archival rag
80x120cm

With the rise of social media, so much appears real that is actually constructed or misrepresented. This distorted view is warping our collective perception, emphasising hyper-focus on identity.

Despite the appearance of this work being artificially generated, it is real. The pyramid reflecting the sky, made from mirror and manually placed in Patagonian lakes. The difficulty in the physical act further grounds the connection to the process of making the work. Some philosophy considers challenge as necessary for something meaningful and lasting, with common and familiar quotes like, “Nothing good comes without sacrifice”.

James Little
Monstura, 2019
Acrylic paint, glass, aluminium frame
70x100cm

Using a multi-stage process combining photography, stenciling and reverse glass painting, James Little’s artwork Monstura attempts to create a ‘push-pull’ sensation for the viewer, where their reflection can either contribute or distort the experience, similarly to how we choose to interact with our natural environment as well as our engagement with technology.

Mikkapedia
Future Relic 1 & 2, 2022
Digital artwork on LED fan
70x70cm each

The artist, Mikkapedia explores the tension between old and new, following an interest in representations of the future from the past, the imagery on the fans is inspired by late 1970s futurism illustrations. Created using digital artworks circa 1990s 3D software called Bryce. The software creates imagery with a certain lo-fi aesthetic which juxtaposes against the hi-fi tech of the holographic fans. As technology advances, both software and hardware becomes disused and obsolete and the artist aims to create futuristic works using tech from the past.

The artworks provide a glimpse into another world where these geometric relics exist, viewed as a portal into a different world with the utilisation of the holographic fans.

Tom Adair
Slipping Away, 2022
Airbrush polymer on dibond, oak frame
130x150cm

In a digital age we are all contributors in the creation of an evolving digital environment that is our imminent future. Through this process we all individually design and curate an online presence that lives remotely, without consciousness (yet) from our physical lives. The artist challenges the viewer to assess their relationship with their own digital doppelgänger, how that differs from reality, whether these differences are by design and examine if their own online representation is skewed by a desire to be rewarded digitally as they slip deeper into a world that places greater emphasis on online interaction.

Taj Alexander
RF_25, 2019
Synthetic Polymer on Linen, on Engineered Wood Panel
85x115cm

Position and perspective are the foundation of perception and interpretation. To frame is to draw attention to that which exists inside, or by exclusion call attention to that which exists beyond. Investigating the purpose and language of framing, this work explores parallels between the frame as aesthetic tool and re-framing as cognitive process.

Richard Blackwell
MRS4.5.1, 2022
Courtesy of Flinders Lane Gallery
Travertine and plywood
44x25cm

Blackwell’s MRS4 (Modular Reflective Surface) series of stone panels, formed from interconnected wedges of travertine limestone and marble, function within the logic of an exploratory puzzle. Concerned with concepts of the infinite, each triangular shard – small, medium or large – has the potential to be arranged in a myriad of horizontal or vertical positions. Mapped onto a tight grid the resulting undulations create visually pleasing abstract forms. But they also suggest complexity of topographic surfaces at once geological and architectural, and suggest terrains that are difficult to navigate. In some iterations all the wedges might face the same way, creating a satisfying series of peaks and troughs. In others however, the assembly appears haphazard and jarring, throwing angles at odds with one another. Singular lines of spray paint disrupt these stone tessellations, and finally trick the eye into seeing an illusion of flatness where there is none.

Richard Blackwell
MRS4.4.3, 2022
Courtesy of Flinders Lane Gallery
Marble, plywood and spray paint
28x25cm

Blackwell’s MRS4 (Modular Reflective Surface) series of stone panels, formed from interconnected wedges of travertine limestone and marble, function within the logic of an exploratory puzzle. Concerned with concepts of the infinite, each triangular shard – small, medium or large – has the potential to be arranged in a myriad of horizontal or vertical positions. Mapped onto a tight grid the resulting undulations create visually pleasing abstract forms. But they also suggest complexity of topographic surfaces at once geological and architectural, and suggest terrains that are difficult to navigate. In some iterations all the wedges might face the same way, creating a satisfying series of peaks and troughs. In others however, the assembly appears haphazard and jarring, throwing angles at odds with one another. Singular lines of spray paint disrupt these stone tessellations, and finally trick the eye into seeing an illusion of flatness where there is none.

Howard Arkley
Ornamentik, 1981
Synthetic polymer on canvas
120x200cm

Howard Arkley’s repeated motifs fuse primitive glyphs with psychedelia, anticipating Matrix-like code strings.

Felix Von Dallwitz
Mask of the absence of a basic reality, 2022
Oil on retroreflective material
90x110cm

Chrome reflections affirming no reality. A non-space, an algorithm’s attempt to self actualise. A painting pretending, an analogue copy without an original, a digitized hyperreality.

Nathan Jokovich
TRUTH.jpg, 2022
Dye sublimation print on velour, oak and gold chain
23x30cm

In a Post Truth, hyper-mediated world, coupled with the social isolation posed by recent lockdowns, arguably the desire for human connection is stronger today than ever before. The digital world presents a frontier of possibilities accessible to anyone, anywhere with a device and internet connection. However, one must not forget that our Internet selves exist as complex data profiles, with every click, scroll and tap being tracked and fed back to us in one algorithmically recommended, infinite loop of images, videos, posts, advertisements and profiles. The Internet is a complex beast, but it is possible to find love on the Internet and maybe for a split second that is everything.

Nathan Jokovich
LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.jpg, 2022
Dye sublimation print on Japanese satin, hardwood, gold, acrylic perspex and gold plated curb chain
135x178x12cm

LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU. investigates the relationship between human and machine and the effect of technology on image making. Using A.I. generated images from text prompts as starting points, the work has been created by splicing the text code of these works to create vertical “data-scapes” that presents the slippery and paradoxical nature of the Internet as a space.

 In 2000, one of the earliest email viruses entitled ‘ILOVEYOU’, with the attachment LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.txt.vbs., was circulated on the Internet by a 24-year-old, university student. The Love Bug computer virus, replicating, interrupting, corrupting each machine it touched and traveled through, exploited a very human palpability for the desire for love and to be loved, even if for a split moment, through a single click. The Love Bug disrupted major national entities including the US Pentagon and British Parliament.

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