PhD project description: On Interface. Questioning Memory, Matter and Meaning through the Haptic

Abstract

This artistic research project explores the concept of ‘interface’. It questions the interaction of memory, matter and meaning. I employ interface as an actual, metaphorical and reflective tool for my current art practice. In general, interface means a point where two systems, subjects etc. meet and interact, whereas in computer science interface defines a shared boundary of concepts of medium, material and technology. I propose an even deeper understanding of the interface as a connective tissue that operates between different aspects of reality, for instance as in between the immaterial and material1, abstract and concrete, repetitive and differential, representative and original. By questioning the interaction of memory, matter and meaning I am pursuing a closer understanding of these aspects when creating new artworks. When bringing together sculptural bodies and installations, the aim is to grasp a better understanding of these notions, how they are activated through technology and the senses. It is also an exploration of possible ruptures, or even a collapse, in the layers and levels of reality, to reveal a world of intricate and infinite possibilities where the artwork is an obscureobscure and enigmatic body of knowledge.