CONTINUANCE - Paul Liptrot
My practice is primarily concerned with how I might create ‘places of sanctuary’ that put the audience at the centre of the work. This is driven by a desire to create a space, whether physically or digitally, that offers time for momentary pause or reflection.
The aim is to enable audiences to engage on their own terms, whether on a personal level or one that creates conversation with others. I am fascinated by the uniqueness of each person based on their own history, geography, and experiences, with this diversity giving rise to untold interactions and potential.
Within this, my practice can be broken into two key elements: firstly engaging with a range of materials and their unique properties through a systematic process of making, mainly abstract in nature, and secondly how this translates into conversations.
As my practice has evolved, the process of making and materials have become vehicles with which I can create installations and experiences.
My original plan for Aftermath was to create a multisensory space featuring 150 petri dishes filled with coloured, transparent latex embedded into the structure and brought alive with light and sound, putting the viewer in the centre of their own 'world', simultaneously apart from and part of their surroundings.
The coronavirus pandemic has meant that this physical engagement is not possible, so my response has been inspired by early Bauhaus experiments in light and sound. I have created work based on a single image of a coloured petri dish. Through a process of iteration, I have broken this image down into increasingly smaller segments, creating kaleidoscopic images that are presented as an animation. My hope is that the calming transitions within the animation give viewers the opportunity to take time out.