Getting pulled in while being thrown out, old traps disperse through new forms, 2017
Here & Not
Richard Alexandersson, Pete Fleming, Jessica MacMillan
Atelier Nord ANX, Oslo, Norway
01-25 June 2017
The installation Getting pulled in while being thrown out, old traps disperse through new forms (2017-2018) combines experimental optics with the metaphorical figure of a jellyfish to explore different ways of constructing and relating to realities.
I recalibrated an out-of-focus projector by hand using various glass and plastic elements. My intention was to reveal the historical perspective of imaging technology as an active participant in constructing the world, and to question optical notions of clarity. While thinking about this process I filmed jellyfish underwater. I combined that footage with a meandering sequence of subtitles and the resulting video is then projected through the complex installation of lenses. The subtitles are my own thoughts, but they could be misinterpreted as those of a jellyfish. "What use is direction? / I move only ever outwards / from a space / a form / a time / to another." The oldest multi-organ species on the planet, jellies are prospering in the warming oceans. Perhaps the jellyfish is a excellent metaphorical figure for our time, a successful symbol for undefined knowledge in the Anthropocene.
Getting pulled in while being thrown out, old traps disperse through new forms, 2018
Hydrodynamics
Leah Beeferman, Pete Fleming, and Ragna Misvær Grønstad
Studio 17, Stavanger, Norway
12 -22 April 2018
Private Collection
2019
Presented in the buoyant pavillion in downtown Redmond, Washington, USA, November 2023 - January 2024.
A lightly edited version of the work “Getting pulled in while being thrown out, old traps disperse through new forms” was projected 24/7 during the Redmond Lights winter festival. https://www.redmond.gov/1139/Redmond-Lights The aptly named buoyant pavillion, with its mirrored ceiling, felt like a perfect location to share this work.