“The Natural History of Alamogordo” by Bob Cotton
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The works in the exhibition are representative of a series of collage drawings (10″ x 7″ and 1O” x 14″) produced through the last year. Each image deals with an aspect of the discoveries in atomic physics that have taken place since 1900. The ‘Natural History’ deals with the events that culminated in the testing of the first fission device in New Mexico in 1945, and it has been a theme echoed in many prints, paintings, collages, digital images and drawings produced over the last five years. The developments in physics that have lead to Grand Unified Theories (GUTs) and Theories of Everything (TOEs) – of which the Alamogordo test was a significantly visual landmark – are among the most impressive examples of mans ability to observe nature and to extrapolate generalised, testable theories from these observations.
Alongside developments in other aspects of ‘natural history, this work represents a major step in mankind’s acquisition of knowledge. In the Arts, this scientific endeavour has to some extent been echoed in Modernism, especially in the parallel emergence of Relativity and Cubism.
Art is an ongoing examination of the relationship between ‘what we know’, and ‘what we see’, an examination made more fascinating by knowledge that is acquired outside the visible spectrum. The artist is faced with the problem of the representation of abstractions, the definition of a usable iconography and the development of suitable media.
There is a special relationship between the development of the computer and the development of the atomic bomb. Vannevar Bush and John von Neuman were both involved in computer applications at Los Alamos, and the two technologies developed synchronously – so the digital ‘paintbox’ seemed an appropriate tool for developing images for the Alamogordo series.
The paintbox (in this case a Spaceword Nova) provides a set of image origination and image manipulation tools – including soft versions of the photo-darkroom, graphics studio, painters studio and video edit suite – such that work traditionally involving several technical processes can be produced with a minimum of delay – and with a minimum of interruption in the creative process.
The current series of artworks includes photo-pieces derived from the paintbox and produced at several levels of screen resolution, utilising image manipulation software to scale, distort, digitally collage and recolour, as well as to produce collages integrating conventional media. Some of these pieces are subsequently worked up into paintings.
