Mechanical repetition and the uncertainty that remains
Objects with variations in form and surface texture are arranged in rectangular frames. Through this work, I considered what “subjective aesthetic value” might mean to a viewer and to a maker.
An interest in technology, together with a desire to move away from making that depends on an individual, led me to explore automation. I drew on the Pop Art approach of working “like a machine”, rather than placing the artist’s inner life or originality at the centre.
By transferring the shaping process to machines, I reduced its reliance on my own skills and manual work. Another aim was to establish a personal fabrication (PF) process that one person could carry out, rather than relying on a workshop system. I am seeking to bring this alternative to traditional workshop-based production into my own process.
The repeated forms inside the frames recall products made through mass production. I retained the tabs that hold parts in place during machining, although these would normally be removed afterwards, leaving room for changes in form that could not be fully predicted.
I see a parallel between this relationship of repetition and difference and the repeated images of screen printing, where misregistration retains traces of the human hand. The work considers how forms entrusted to machines can coexist without becoming entirely uniform.
