jim campbell
May 16, 2009
is known for his extremely low-resolution moving images made with L.E.D.s. his pixilated representations are created with so few L.E.D.s (more than a thousand times fewer than the number of pixels on your computer screen) that you shouldn’t be able to comprehend what you’re seeing. but you do… it’s a unique, humanistic approach to information theory. he uses the distinction between the analogue world and its digital representation as a metaphor for the human ability for poetic understanding or “knowledge” as opposed to the mathematics of “data.”
campbell is expanding video as a media by combining it with his own inventions. he’s using it to posit questions about time, memory, and perceived reality in the vocabulary of the electronic age.
in this new piece, a grid of 768 L.E.D.s flicker between off and on to create an abstracted image. a high-resolution photograph between the board of diodes and the viewer focuses the pixels and creates a moving image. there is an interesting reference to “ghosts” in early photographs (with their very long exposure). and a poignant message about the fleeting nature of life.
“powell street” 2009, 768 L.E.D.s, photograph mounted on plexiglass and custom electronics, 22 1/2 x 29 1/2 x 2 inches, from an edition of 3.
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marco maggi
May 7, 2009
just finished installing his show “cubic drops” in our san francisco gallery. it’s genius. there’s a wealth of his masterful drawings – in graphite and on aluminum foil and scratched into plexiglass. there’s an astonishing object that’s a drawing in graphite on graphite. and an amazing assortment of his playful and beautiful explorations of drawing and line made 3-d.
a close-up of a drawing on reynolds wrap:
a drawing scratched on plexiglass that is practically invisible except for it’s shadow:
“A cubic drop is a plexi sheet with floor, roof and four walls. Six faces or surfaces to liberate the line from its two dimensions. A drawing/sculpture unit.” – marco maggi
a stack of scratched, two-inch cubes:
“square pencil” (detail) a pencil drawing on a sheet of soft graphite:
once you’re past the virtuosity of his hand (i’m not guaranteeing you’ll ever get there – i’ve been working with him for ten years and haven’t) you’ll find an extraordinary wit and a linguistic prowess. conceptual and formal concerns dealt with in equal measure – smart and gorgeous.
