Tom Moody - Freight Elevator Project
curatorial statement (posted outside of elevator)
Tom Moody
Molecular Dispersion (Elevator Kit)For the last several years Tom Moody has been "augmenting" interiors using low-resolution computer programs and consumer printing equipment. He creates a kind of impromptu wallpaper with a disorienting or mesmerizing pattern, temporarily installing it in a room and then removing it at the end of the exhibition. The installations are site specific: he first studies the spaces and determines where to place the paper so that it highlights or reacts to the surrounding architecture.
On one level, the installation functions as a giant, pulsating abstract painting. Unlike standard computer graphics, which are somewhat inert and deadening to the eye, Moody’s patterns are hand-rendered in an older paint program. No single sheet is identical. This method of working goes against the grain of, or "problematizes," the computer, by introducing techniques of painstaking individualized production to an instrument designed for quick, cheap mass production. Instead of succumbing to commercial pressure for state-of-the-art upgrades, the artist is entropically moving backward to older, "downgraded" programs.
The shape and materials of the elevator cabin have also determined Molecular Dispersion (Elevator Kit). Tom Moody has assembled a 70-foot-square lattice of molecular spheres and struts drawn and printed on his home PC. This "kit" consists of several hundred individual pieces, put together improvisationally within the elevator site.
For more information on the artist’s work please check: http://www.digitalmediatree.com/tommoody/contents/