Núria Fuster & David Hanes Record Material
Curated by Àngels Miralda
Passatge Studio, Barcelona
10 - 21 December 2016
CMD+Burn =
singe, flicker, smoulder, flare, burst, blaze,
incinerate, scorch, sear, char.
Even a solid such as glass is considered a liquid
in a broader scheme of time.
Moving the colour from one pixel to another, when
does the image disappear and claim a new identity? How much does time and flame
and pressure need to be applied to create a new combination of matter?
The current state of an object makes reference to
combinations of molecules that have existed in previous forms. A past
performance or action creates a new surface or image through causal chains. The
moment of the original is the identification of an object in an infinite
history of atomic interactions that go through constant processes and
transformations. The image is still
transforming, the object is still decaying,
eroding, in its long half-life, each JPEG file loses information with each
successive compression.
The exhibition forms connections between the
ephemerality of the
photograph and the recombination of matter, the
instantaneousness of online images and a connection to the painterly.
NOTE: The curator gives the audience a list of
ingredients for the
exhibition. We could go into a lot more detail
so let’s call this list a
fragment.
Mixed in with the ingredients is also a list of
processes.
But without the instructions, they are simply a
set of clues.
False Friend
Is the term for
two words that are spelled the same in different languages but have different
meanings. The term comes from the original French phrase faux amis du
traducteur.
The title of
the exhibition has slightly different meanings in English and
Catalan. Record
is both an act of mark-making and a souvenir, a sudden
memory, and a
permanent archival proof. Material does not change its meaning, it is matter,
stuff, the physical volume that makes up the artwork.
GIF
Is the acronym
for Graphics Interchange Format, an image format developed by Steve Wilhite in
1987. It is a popular format on the internet for simple images such as logos.
GIF files are able to create animations and graphics by storing multiple images
in a single file. The typical time of a GIF animation is a loop of just a
couple of seconds. Although it is possible to make longer GIF files, longer
files with more complex visuals are normally stored as .mov or .mp4.
In 2012 the
word was added to the American Oxford University Press as a new word in the
English language. Its application as both a verb and a noun describes it as a
medium. It was pronounced the 2012 word of the year for its importance in
research and journalism.
GIF can be
pronounced either with a soft or hard G. The creators insist that the pronunciation
is with a soft G which led to an intense internet controversy in 2013 in which
17,000 Tweets and 50 news articles mentioned the scandal.
Gum Rubber
Is the word
used to differentiate natural rubber from the synthetic version.
Latex can be
“tapped” from trees by making incisions into the bark and capturing the sticky,
milky liquid. Uncured rubber is used in cements and adhesives, while cured
rubber is applied widely for its waterproof qualities, elasticity, and
electrical resistance.
The Para rubber
tree is indigenous to South America and was first studied by Enlightenment
scientists in the 18th century. In 1770 the British scientist Joseph Priestly
observed that a piece of rubber was good for erasing pencil marks. However,
rubber has been used for thousands of years, produced by the Olmec civilisation
who later passed on their knowledge to the Maya. They produced balls for the
“Ollamaliztli” Mesoamerican ballgame. The ball was made of solid rubber leaving
players perpetually bruised.
JPEG
Is the acronym
for Joint Photographic Experts Group. The JPEG file was developed for realistic
images and photographs with smooth colour transitions. It is highly popular on
the web for its small file sizes while keeping a defined image. The JPEG is not
well suited to files that undergo multiple edits and transformations as the
file tends to compress each time and loses information. JPEGs use “lossy
compression” which means that some information from the file is lost and cannot
be recovered, compromising the image quality.
Nylon String
Is commonly
used for fishing line for its breaking strength, stretch, resistance, and
invisibility.
Polyurethane
Composed of
polymers joined by carbamates, Polyurethane is an element in clothing,
mattresses, car seats, and even hard plastics that surround us day-to-day.
Discovered in 1937 by Otto Bayer in Leverkusen, Germany, they became
commercially available in the 1950’s replacing older forms of plastic for its
flexibility as well as hard-use abilities.
(CMD+Z = undo)
Psycho (film, Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
Directed by
Alfred Hitchcock and based on the novel by Robert Bloch, it is considered a
first example of slasher films in the horror genre and set a new standard for
violence, deviance, and sexuality in American filmmaking. The film received
critical acclaim winning four academy award nominations.
Janet Leigh famously portrayed the main
character Marion Crane who unconventionally dies early in the film in a violent
shower scene where she is stabbed with a kitchen knife by Norman Bates.
Although Leigh was awarded the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress, the
film had eventual consequences on the actress’s personal life. She was so
traumatised by the shower scene that she went through great lengths to avoid
showering for the rest of her life. After the film was premiered Leigh received
a number of letters, calls, tapes from men who would write to her detailing
what they would like to do to Marion Crane.
Sublimation
Is a process
through which solid materials change directly into gaseous materials without
going through an intermediary liquid state. Sublimation is an endothermic phase
transition which occurs when certain temperature and pressure values allow the
transmutation. For instance, water goes through the process of sublimation when
the sun acts directly on the top layer of a
snowfield. The
volume of snow will diminish as the top particles become vapour without
producing water. The process of sublimation has been known for centuries,
alchemists believed it to be an important step towards the production of a
magnum opus or prima materia.
Sir George
Ripley, 15th century alchemist and student of the writings of Ramon Llull,
spoke of the mystical and spiritual properties of sublimation. It connects with
the purification of the spirit from the body.
“And
Sublimations we make for three causes,
The first cause
is to make the body spiritual.
The second is
that the spirit may be corporeal,
And become
fixed with it and consubstantial.
The third cause
is that from its filthy original.
It may be
cleansed, and its saltiness sulphurious
May be
diminished in it, which is infectious.”
- Sir George
Ripley
Dye Sublimation is the process whereby a computer
printer uses heat to transfer dye onto selected materials. Although the
term
“sublimation”
is used to describe the process, this has been shown to be incorrect as the dye
does pass through a brief liquid state. The
process is now
sometimes referred to as Dye-Diffusion but this
proper term has
not eliminated the original name. The process of dye sublimation requires
multiple polyester ribbons which eject one colour at a time onto the selected
medium. Print rollers move the
medium and the
dye panels together while tiny heating elements layer the dye in differing
quantities depending on the amount of heat applied. This process is widely used
for textile printing due to its
durability, and
that the dye does not build up on fabric. Its main
applications
are banners, sportswear, and flags.
WHITE+SHADOW>IMAGES
= > If > Canvas Size > Set Selection > Copy > Paste >
Make Layer > Move current Layer > Fill > Select Layer “Layer 1” >
Set Layer Styles of current Layer > Play Action
“FLATTEN_SAVE_IMAGES”
USB
Is a rewritable
data storage device with up to a 10-year shelf-life. The USB replaced previous
technologies of CDs and floppy disks. Most computers were equipped with floppy
disk drives as well as USB ports until 2005 when the floppy disk became
obsolete. The USB has the advantage of being able to store more data while
taking up less space as well as lasting longer due to not having any moving
parts. USB technology has increasingly focused on decreasing the size of the
device while increasing storage capacities. Some companies differentiate
themselves by producing bulky and novelty casings for the USB device. USB
sticks with images of dragons, cats, and aliens are very popular in Asia and
have also been adapted for use on everyday items such as watches, keychains,
pens, and swiss army knives.
Wax
An organic
compound that is malleable and resists water. Waxes are synthesized in many
plants and animals, the most famous example is
beeswax
secreted into hives. Other insects also secrete wax. In mammals, large amounts
of wax are produced in the head cavities of the Sperm Whale in a wax-type
called Spermaceti. The large amounts of wax in the whale’s head may help with
echolocation of prey using the Doppler Effect.
Wax is an
important material in the history of mark-making as early languages were
recorded in wax-tablets. It was usually found in a wooden frame with wax in the
centre convenient as a portable and reusable writing source.
Descartes’ Wax
Argument
“but let us
consider one body in particular. Let us take, for example, this piece of wax:
it has been taken quite freshly from the hive, and it has not yet lost the
sweetness of the honey which it contains; it still retains somewhat of the
odour of the flowers from which it has been culled; its colour, its figure, its
size are apparent; it is hard, cold, easily handled, and if you strike it with
the finger, it will emit a sound. Finally all the things which are requisite to
cause us
distinctly to
recognise a body, are met with in it. But notice that while I speak and
approach the fire what remained of the taste is exhaled, the smell evaporates,
the colour alters, the figure is
destroyed, the
size increases, it becomes liquid, it heats, scarcely can one handle it, and
when one strikes it, no sound is emitted. Does the same wax remain after this
change?”
René Descartes,
Meditations on First Philosophy