The ‘present past’ series of prints on corroded aluminium embodies the notion of the medium remembering the act of its material process with the aim being to {re}create its ‘aura’ (re Walter Benjamin, 1935, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction). By including images of mothers/grandmothers with children (the past and the present together), I see it as a visual symbol of my research and methodology…the past (aesthetic) technologies nurturing, supporting and guiding the present (infant) technology. Referencing traditional printmaking etching techniques by corroding (etching) the aluminium with sea salt and copper sulphate, the aluminium substrate also remembers the act of its material process via the gestural act of tearing and bending the sheets of aluminium…all of which aims to evoke the gesture of searching, discovery and creation.
The use of aluminium also references the somewhat mythological notion that aluminum causes or contributes to memory loss or Alzheimer’s disease…thus implying the organic nature of human memory with it’s erasure and additions, all of which is counter the never forgetting static digital memory. It also plays upon the concept/symbolism of aluminum being a ‘contemporary’ medium…one that the modern world has relied upon (eg the computer industry…my macbook pro). Thus the corrosion and use of the aluminum is seen to run counter to the preconceived notion of the perfection of the digital image by evoking and embracing the corrosion of the digital substrate.
_alternate versions & printing tip
kurtis adamson 