Shepherd, Yoni Sorokin, 2024.
SIGNALS
Written By Sophia Layton | May 11, 2024
Լight oԲ ו , օ օ օ Լiveی, Dylan de Topeka, 2019
Our subconscious is a precious information receiver. Images, sounds, and signals incarnate the fabric of our minds. Whether you consciously perceive or subconsciously receive—everything is a wave.
Beginning with Yoni Sorokin’s Shepherd, one might find great joy in contemplating that waves are God’s medium. From the forces that shape our landscape over millions of years to the special spark of human consciousness—the power to harness waves to transmit information over thousands of miles to millions of people.
This curation comes together under a motif of intentional duplication and the notion that all digital media and thus digital art is a wave only accessible via an internet connection.
Torre la Gavina, Philip Frank, 2023
This Land Art Installation on a Boulder in Formentera reminds one of Thomas Young’s double slit experiment discovering that light is both a wave and a particle. This installation was once ephemeral, only available to those particularly there, but it is now a signal garnering millions of views across the internet.
“This was so far one of the most challenging Installations to pull of. The sea was so rough that day. Camera got flooded. And the wind kept blowing the Beamer away. But it was well worth it. What do you say?” (Philip Frank).
Water is the best medium for us to perceive waves with the naked eye. Robbie Crawford’s work depicts perfectly-simulated waves. At first it looks like it could be a real wave but the camera angle and lack of disorder reveals the image is computer-generated. Crawford says these are “digital wave pools … after the wave’s created (he) can fly a camera through it however (he) chooses as it’s breaking.”
Just Looking Around, Robbie Crawford, 2023
Z♯, Dylan de Topeka, 2021
One of de Topeka’a 'Metaimages' is featured above. This distinctive approach involves the creation of pieces by taking an image, duplicating it atop itself, and then engaging in a deliberate process of distortion and reshaping. These duplicates transform into shapes and 'paint strokes,' meticulously arranged to reconstruct the image's original composition. The outcome is a body of work that has been aptly described as mirror-like or multidimensional, a characterization that resonates with the intricate interplay of spatial elements.
Paper Sacrament, Nuwan Shilpa, 2023
Before ‘signal’ was used to describe internet or cellular connection, it was experienced between people—through body language and even chemical messages like pheromones. Nuwan Shilpa’s work often reminds one to be more attuned to the signs and signals around us… The coo of a mourning dove, sun beams breaking through the clouds overhead, the ripple of water in the bath, or a call from a friend far away.