A Harmony of Spheres
In the airless vacuum of the hard-drive anything seems possible. In the world of three dimensions this is less the case, with laws of physics usually asserting their influence over the things we want and giving us instead the things that are possible.
In the gap between reality and the virtual lies a myriad of vexed questions and compelling visions of another world, a world that is tormentingly close yet only ever briefly glimpsed through a crack in logic. A Harmony Of Spheres is an exhibition looking at a particular body of work by Dominic Hopkinson that prises open that crack a little bit further, allowing us a protracted view of a natural world so sophisticated, that human understanding will forever struggle to comprehend such “intelligent design” or perfected evolution
For this exhibition Hopkinson presented work made over a period of nine years that looks at two very distinct strands of research; on the one hand ‘Closest Packing Theory’ and on the other the use of computational models in order to subvert the reality of what is possible in three dimensions. In materials ranging through three types of stone; Ancaster and Portland stone and Carrara Marble, and cast objects in Plaster and bronze Hopkinson’s work takes us into a realm of theoretical mathematics, numbers whose accuracy is dictated by the fact that they run on into infinity. These numbers are the building blocks of most design and are ultimately instrumental in our own understanding of beauty.
There are three sequences of numbers that are central to the understanding of this exhibition. One of these being the fibonacci sequence in which, beginning at zero, each number added to the previous one gives the next number in the sequence, therefore . . . 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 52, 73 ad infinitum. The other two are single numbers whose nature is irrational, by which we mean they have no end due to the how the numbers occur beyond the decimal place. These numbers are Pi – 3.141… and Phi – 1.618… and on and on. Of these three it is Phi that has the largest bearing on the sculptures being presented. Phi, represented as φ, and also known as the Golden Ratio, Golden Mean or Golden Section is an important factor that is forever recurring, just like its number, in art and architecture. Whether it is the method used to define the organisation of elements in a building, the dimensions of a picture frame or television screen or even the construction of the picture itself, Phi is instrumental. It is the organisation of these numbers and how they translate in the real world as structures and angles that defines the nature of much that we look at such as the organisation of branches and leaves on trees, seed arrangements in plants and flowers, pine cones, segments of a pineapple and on and on . . . A process known as Phyllotaxis.
Nature, it turns out, is an extremely efficient organiser of space, wanting only to get the most out of existence. So in the finely tuned angles between the occurrences of branches on a tree we discover that this process is no accident, nor is it random, in fact it is designed to allow maximum efficiency in the gathering of sunlight as the tree grows. It is the subject of such efficiency that the largest number of sculptures in this exhibition explore. Using both casting and direct carving techniques Hopkinson’s work looks at ‘Closest Packing Theory’ and how spheres pack in three dimensional space most efficiently. In one series of cast works we are able to look inside a single sphere to see a delicate lattice, formed by the plaster between the hollow spaces that would have been occupied by other spheres. The web is so delicate in places that one can understand, purely by looking at it, the difficulties inherent in casting such an object. In another cast series solid objects have been created and placed in a structure by which they are confined. Here the objects settle and their forms distort removing the maximum amount of dead space possible. In the bronze cast pieces and stone carved works that follow this theme we are instead asked to consider the spaces between by showing us the exterior of the spheres as they are packed together in their most efficient manner.
The second series of objects in this exhibition are based on a branch of mathematics known as Topology in which shapes are distorted, twisted, stretched and deformed whilst the original properties of the object are preserved, therefore the tearing or puncturing of surfaces is not permitted. In this sequence of sculptures a sphere is distorted to the point of being turned inside out. In the world of 3 dimensions this is quite obviously impossible, but in the virtual world it is not and here Hopkinson presents a series of sculptures that represent individual points on the journey from inside to outside / outside to inside. The physicality of these sculptures in stone and bronze culled from forms created in virtual space, are a weighty counterpoint to the fragile nature of the plaster forms that originate in the real world.
Elsewhere in the front exhibition space the work entitled ‘Kissing Isaac Newton’ (2011) has for a number of years been gathering a patina in Hopkinson’s garden, giving it a certain quality that none of the other works on display at Basement have. Whilst this particular sculpture in Ancaster Stone still has the accuracy and attention to detail that all of his work has, the effect of environmental factors has altered the colour and texture of the piece. As it sits here in the warm glow of the evening sunlight it seems to merge with the wall behind it, the shadows and colours blend the contours of the work with the crumbling painted plaster and stone of the backdrop; from certain angles the piece appears to be emerging, rough-hewn from the very fabric of Basement. From old discoveries new pathways emerge and here the presentation of this piece seems analogous to the whole raison d’etre of Dominic Hopkinson. “Between thought and expression lie a lifetime” wrote Lou Reed back in 1969, a consideration of the effect that time and experience has upon the reality of things that initially begin as a thought. Similarly between Isaac Newton and Lara Favaretto lie many lifetimes but the principle is the same. In ‘Kissing Isaac Newton’ we see the cumulative effect of time, gathering presence and exerting its influence on an artwork that occupies a particular moment in the development of an idea, a moment in which idea is made manifest. Four years later and this particular piece is simultaneously disappearing into and emerging from its surroundings. A discovery made, an idea explicated and then an idea accepted before we are confident to move on to the next stage. At the other end of this trajectory is ‘Doing Evolution after Lara Favaretto’ (2015) similarly detailed, yet similarly rough-hewn, only this time due to it’s possible status as a work in progress.
So why include a work that is unfinished?
Well, life is a journey and some questions are meant to remain unanswered. If certain questions were answered I believe that we would negate the reasons for our own existence. Nature evolves, we evolve and so to do our discoveries and desires. Art does not exist to make the possibilities of the universe finite but rather to extend them and keep us pushing forward. ‘A Harmony Of Spheres’ was always conceived as the first step in a project that would, god and / or nature willing, develop into a more site specific exploration of Hopkinson’s practice. It is now that those discussions, the whys and wherefores, must begin as we start to re-evaluate the ideas that were put to one side for this show and how a trajectory could be mapped out to guide the development of an exhibition for 2016.
Bruce Davies April 2015
Photographs: Bruce Davies