(Work
by Nicholas and Miranda Crooks)
Opening at artSPACE durban on May 5 is an exhibition
by Nicholas and Miranda Crooks who live and work in KwaZulu-Natal. The
exhibition is titled Notion and Nature.
Notion (Nicholas Crooks)) is themed I
Improve-We Become 2017
“These two-dimensional artworks comment on
the way today's digital new media condition superimposes itself onto the
technologies of a shadow baby boomer, or the pre-digital generations.
Millennials have a perspective from the digital, a perspective of a generation
growing up with the technology of keyboards, computers, cellphones instant
access and an app for almost anything. The way communication has changed due to
the introduction of the digital ripples through society. We need to be reminded
that those of us from the 60s and before grew up without televisions,
calculators, computers, cellphones, laptops, World Wide Web, Twitter, e-mails,
Facebook, WhatsApp and the rest of new media technology. This chasm between
analogue and digital remains a challenge, where the ideals and structures of
the past are being challenged and replaced by a fuzzy logic of living and of
Life. Where engaging in the process is more important than finding “the answer”.
In the latest works I have grappled with an
understanding of the digital generation from my shadow baby boomer perspective.
I would see the perpetuation of posting selfies as ego centric, self-obsessed
and narcissistic but from explanations gained in conversation with millennials
where showing or sharing is sociocentric, consensus seeking , egalitarian and
humanitarian. Millennials see themselves “ of service to one another”.
New technologies change society and
adjusting to the introduction of new technologies is what the (humankind)
techoanthropological does.
New media superimpose themselves on
technologies of the past. The stone age replaced the iron age etc etc, what is
different however is that new technologies are now being introduced so rapidly
that they are intergenerational. The actions of a generation is the reflection
the technology of the day. With rapidly changing technologies all people from
older technological pasts are having to accept and embrace new technologies
during their lifetime. It’s a bit like having to trade in something that still
sort of works for a so called better model. It’s not that the old does not work
it is the adjustment to the new that enables contact between generations.
The old idea of the self (theses) needs to
change to the new media(antithesis) in order for a synthesis to emerge,
although the digital has arrived and some of its affects are reality we are
living in a transitional phase, until a new technology arrives to replace the
digital we will not have a clear perspective of it.”
Nature (Miranda)
Much like a cat gets excited by a flutter
of wings, Miranda is thrilled by an intrinsic primal hunter-gatherer desire to
visually immerse herself in plant forms.
“The lines and shapes of plants are both
exciting and captivating and I can only think that, like the smell of soil,
this visual engagement produces endorphins that make us happy.”
Her work is part of a series of double
exposure botanicals.
Notion
and Nature opens at artSPACE durban on May 5 at 18h00
and runs until May 25. artSPACE durban
is situated at 3 Millar Road
(off Umgeni Road)
close to the Waste Centre. More information on 031 312 0793 or visit www.artspacedurban.co.za
or www.artspacedurban.blogspot.com
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