Darwin

an exhibition by Mark Cypher

The boundaries between the self and other entities are more ambiguous and fragile than our senses inform us. Or in other words the ground that humans inhabit influences much more than the senses. This kind of symbiosis sees ground as more than, mere support, or enclosure, but rather points to a habitation of space laden with convention and marked by boundaries which at first seem transparent. This translucence illustrates the mirage or common sense illusion of unmediated and autonomous human experience. In contrast Freudian analysis of our attraction and sense of shared familiarity with objects reveals a relationship, which represents a microcosm of possible relationships that are intimately mediated.

That objects can seem to have so much influence that they are deemed to have agency. That I may, on occasion, be it and it may be me. That we can exchange properties in ways we barely understand, are all questions inherent to intimately mediated spaces. Thus imagining the possibility that all kinds of entities can have agency constructs an examination of the dialectical desires floating between subjects and objects.When we interact with objects new compositions of relations are generated. It's in this way that these works seek to expand the relationships between objects and subjects as fixed yet maneuverable, with and without definable boundaries; or as headless allegories.

The following work is primarily the culmination of research done for a Masters of Visual Arts at Sydney University over 2 years, 1994 to 1996. This work was also exhibited at the Particle Gallery and Casula Power House in Sydney.