Finite
Limited Supply, Limitless Beauty
Crude oil is a naturally occurring fossil fuel also known as “black gold” for its colour and value to global economies of power. Formed from the remains of ancient marine organisms under intense heat and pressure over millions of years, it exists where ancient seas were once located - in vast underground reservoirs beneath land or the ocean floor. The mining, drilling and burning of this finite resource, upon which we so heavily rely, has caused decades of damage to our planet.
In Finite, held between sheets of glass within a precision-engineered frame structure, exists a liquid slice of that miracle material. Its solid blackness gives a sense of illuminated darkness - light reflects off tiny particles of ancient organic matter, at once still and in constant motion, shimmering colours and infinite blackness. We catch sight of ourselves, though not fully, and are taken elsewhere - reminiscent of the act of scrying or gazing into ancient black Obsidian mirrors which reflect the viewer as well as the object. Surrounded by a handcrafted gold gilt frame, the work brings our focus to the limited supply and limitless beauty of this precious organic material, and raises the complex question—what shape will our future relationship with oil take?
Date:
2021
Materials:
Oil – 1 Inch thick
Size:
490mm x 390mm x 65mm
Edition Details
Edition of 8 plus 4 AP
Role
Concept, Creative and Realisation
Part of the Spring Summer Collection ‘23
Through internet-connected slow technologies, living and fossilised plants and mixed media, this new series of performative artefacts occupy our interior spaces and take our minds elsewhere.
A delicate fern performs a choreographed dance, a live-streamed woodland in Galloway reaches us through mesmeric pixels, a gilt frame is filled with deep dark yet shimmering tiny particles of crude oil. Precision-engineered materials and data-driven movements meet the flow and unpredictability of living matter. In this overlap of technology and nature we might find new connections in the familiar. Each work gently steers us away from a nature-culture dichotomy—the idea that nature is somehow external to humans—and presents new ways for us to be in dialogue with nature in our everyday lives.
From Japan to Scotland, inspiration comes from the diverse relationships people have with nature and how these are mediated by history and culture. In Japan,
Shirin-yoku (forest bathing) teaches us the benefits of ecotherapy, while many plants and trees are steeped in the myths and legends of British folklore and interwoven in rituals. The works also explore how we live according to, and often seek comfort from, our regional climates—the changes from day-to-day, day-to-night, and the seasons. In the works’ natural elements, such as the single hawthorn tree and the common yarrow, we find a celebration of such cycles: the rise and fall of pollen levels, the intensity of a breeze, the cacophony of a dawn chorus, and a reminder of how we, in turn, are affected and influenced by these changes.
To design for both planet and people is a common thread running through these experimental works of functional art. They incorporate ideas from within Biophilic Design and how this can reduce stress, improve wellbeing and clarity of thought. In each unique encounter with these calming works, we find new intimacies with nature within our modern built environment.