"Digital'09: Mysteries in Science" Exhibition at the New York Hall of Science.
ARTIST STATEMENT
The question that this artwork addresses is, What is the nature of "informatons" -- fundamental elements of communication -- that may be smaller than strings (as in String Theory)? Informatons are to communication what nucleons are to atoms. They may consist of information, concepts, data, knowledge, experiences, etc. Premise: hidden in the tiniest "mass," or content, of any form of information are tons of untapped "energy," or meaning. Imagine if we could fully realize their potential!
This artwork is part of the 11th international digital print exhibition, "Digital’09: Mysteries in Science," presented
at the New York Hall of Science from October 3, 2009 – January 31, 2010. This annual project is organized by
Art & Science Collaborations, Inc. (ASCI). http://www.asci.org
Todd Siler Artist Statement on the ABSTRACT REALISM of Photosculptures
Novelist E.M. Forster writes: "Only connect." That's my philosophy of art and life, too. Since 1975, I've been exploring how nature connects things: creatively, deliberately and accidentally. My artworks interpret these connections and interrelates them in ways that aim to inspire wonder while challenging our imagination.
My new photographic steel sculptures, or photosculptures, were created experimentally, using some novel industrial printing and photographic technology. They're meant to be exhibited both individually and as multi-part art installations in a spectrum of environments and situations where each context changes the myriad meanings of their symbolic contents.
The digitally manipulated photosculptures represent my creative inquiries into the potentially infinite meanings and possibilities of nature's connectivity. They venture many unique interpretations on this theme–suggesting how all things may be interconnected by nature: from infinitesimally tiny strands of subatomic particles to clusters of stellar matter to human neural tissue to the multilayered concepts of cities, cultures and civilizations born from our collective brains.
These artworks embody the ambiguous, abstract qualities of physical reality, or "Abstract Realism." They integrate artist-made and media originated images, which are permanently fused on carvedand welded aluminum plate. Their metaphorical imagery envisions nature as one interrelated, creative process that links everything in indescribable ways and with countless hidden purposes.
For me, one of the great joys in creating these photosculptures is opening my mind to those thrilling, unpredictable "aesthetic accidents" that underscore most original discoveries. Albert Szent-Györgyi, the 1937 Nobel Prize-winner in Physiology or Medicine, once noted: "A discovery is said to be an accident meeting a prepared mind." This art prepares our minds for that unexpected encounter with discovery."
The Art League of Long Island, January/February 2008
ArtScience Adventures:
Undefining A.R.T. (All Representations of Thought)
Fractal Reactor: Re-Creating the Sun
“Subconscious Thoughts on the Fractal Reactor,” 2006, Ink on black photographic paper; sculpture of 300 million degree Kelvin plasmas suspended. 9ft. x 31ft. (Installation view: Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York City)
Todd Siler, “Fractal Reactor,” 2000 Mixed media, 8”h x 10”w x 10”d (Model fabricated by Roger Leitner)
Todd Siler, “Supposition and Premise 1 & 2,” 2006. Mixed mediums on natural paper, 44”h x 42”w x 3”d and 48”h x 55”w
Todd Siler, “Designs for the Fractal Reactor’s Magnetic Confinement System,” 2006. Miced media on paper, 32½” x 127”
Related links and info:
Lilly Wei's art review, "Todd Siler at Ronald Feldman," in Art In America (February 2007 Issue, pages 141, 142
A.R.T.Strings
Todd Siler: A.R.T.Strings
Installation view of A.R.T.Strings at Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, NYC, 2004 (detail)
We compress and expand everything, as naturally as gravity distorts time and shapes space. These compressed expansions and expanded compressions affect everything under the sun: from our sense of truth to our experiences of beauty; from blissful joys to beastly horrors.
Today we find ourselves staring at the edges of things, wondering about the subliminal stories our minds create to cope with our eternally turbulent universe, and potentially terrifying future.
Are we, as physicists and string theorists relate, merely anonymous creations of invisible strings of matter too subtle to see? Does each nameless string contain a world of information that will forever elude the touch of human understanding? Does every string embody All Representations of Thought? Do A.R.T. Strings link everything from tranquility to terror?
Perhaps life is only one pattern nature represents in infinite ways with all strings attached.
-- Todd Siler
Installation view of A.R.T.Strings at Ronald Feldman Fine Arts (detail)
"A.R.T.Strings expands on my ongoing exploration of nature’s connectivity, which is expressed in all its creations. It advances my adventure in delving into the human mind to discover how we create, learn, discover, and communicate. For me, A.R.T. encompasses All Representations of Thought: from the poetic gestures of dancers to the abstract symbolic models of chemists; from back-of-the-envelop idea doodles to rigorous proofs by pure mathematicians; from the Aha! we spontaneously utter at a moment of breakthrough to the technological marvels we create in collaboratively harnessing our creative genius; from our silent muses on life to our tangible responses to all the things nature shares with us every second of everyday—things that challenge our senses and imagination".
Excerpts from: A.R.T.String: A Guide To The Works of Todd Siler. Boulder, CO: Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art and the Museum of Outdoor Arts, 2004. ISBN 0-9638696-0-4 Paperback: 8.5 x 11in. / 114 pgs / 67 color exhibition reproductions.
Installation view of A.R.T.Strings at Ronald Feldman Fine Arts (detail)
TODD SILER: A.R.T. Strings had its inaugural exhibitions at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art (September 9, 2004 – January 16, 2005) and Ronald Feldman Fine Arts in New York City (December 2- 24, 2004) (www.feldmangallery.com). A number of these new artworks are currently being exhibited at Galerie Seippelwachs in Berlin (April 2 – June 3, 2005) www.galerie-seippel-wachs.de
This multi-part installation features a series of mixed-media paintings on synthetic canvas (“Metaphorms”) and freestanding steel sculptures (“Subliminal Stories”) with manipulated reproductions of artist-made and media originated images that depict a world of information we experience daily that is radically shaping the future of life as we know it.
The collective imagery transforms icons of urgent global issues and challenges affecting every facet of contemporary life and the evolution of art-science-technology, and society. Siler provides an alternative vision of time, space, matter, and energy beyond the fourth dimension that takes into account the edgy, violent side of our creative nature.
The installation also includes pedestal artifacts, Mind Icon sculptures and symbolic models, along with broadcast quality videotapes of Siler’s exploratory “artscience” installation concepts and realizations over the past 25 years. ArtScience embodies the complex and fascinating intersection where art and science merge to transform our understanding of human potential, creativity, learning, and applied innovation.
Installation view of A.R.T.Strings at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, 2004 (detail)