During an artist residency in Beijing in 2008, Allan Giddy encountered air pollution that was so severe, he describes sometimes feeling as though he was walking through mist. This experience inspired him to utilise the thick, palpable air as a material. In 2020, catalysed by the Black Summer bushfires, he began developing practical methods to filter air and ‘extract’ images from it.
The collection of works Mining Thin Air are created directly from air, by drawing it through silk stretched across a screen-printed gauze stencil. The resulting images are archivally preserved and professionally mounted. The works included in this exhibition are all created from Sydney air. Featuring intertidal zones and National Parks in NSW, they share a sometimes uneasy ethereality.
Allan began making sculptural process machines in 1992, with a poetry-generating work Untitled Interface, which featured in the Third International Symposium for Electronic Art (TISEA). He has since expanded his practice – working closely with solar researchers – to become a world leader in solar public art. Allan has also curated numerous energy-in-art events. His work has been exhibited internationally, including in the UK (Tate Modern), Germany, Ireland, Türkiye, Aotearoa NZ, Bulgaria, Greece, Finland and Denmark.
This project is supported by Create NSW.
Image: Allan Giddy, Pb: bush track
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