TECHNOPODS
Fibreglass form, calligraphy paper, PVA, ink stamps, ink, lacquer
50*80*60- 110*180*80cm approx
Guangzhou, China | 2016
Even after several years living in China I realised that it would be very difficult for a white westerner to ever be free from feeling like an outsider. At this time the word 'Alien' on my residence permit seemed all the more poignant! I had been invited to a residency in historic Guangzhou City (named Canton by the British), where I was to paint on fibreglass cast large 'stones'. At that time I had just started to think a lot about technological advancement including algorithms, automation and artificial intelligence, and I had the idea to create a series of extraterrestrial 'eggs' or 'spacecrafts'. I used symbols from the Taiji on the top surface of the forms and stamped geometric characters on the bottom sides - all referencing elements of nature, as if conveying some secret language or code. I used rice on the top surface in the same way as I had with the Geoscrolls series of works, which created a look like gazing into outer space. Ink was sprayed onto the top surface and so did not land on the underneath sides, which stayed white. Ink dribbled down the curved form, to give another organic element to the works. The thick layer of laquer over the surface really helped to give an artificial, otherworldly feel to the objects. This series was created alongside the Quadmats series.