Dominic Chapman
Chapman is a recent graduate from the University of Derby where he studied BA (Hons) Photography. His research interests encompass theories and ideas around time, space and ontology, and how the perception of fundamental principles can be subverted through collective myth. He uses photographic processes as a critical tool to examine these metaphysical notions and our perceptions.
A Matter of State: visualising the synthesis between collective myth and perceptions of space and time
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This paper opens a critical discussion around my most recent body of work titled A Matter of State. This installation uses the photographic process of dark room enlarging to create an orbiting image depicting a computer-generated simulation of the geological phenomenon; Continental Drift. This simulation is then slowly projected across a phosphorescent surface, producing a transient impression, making reference to both fundamental photographic, as well as painting processes. The purpose of the installation is to describe the synthesis between our fundamental anthropological models of communication, and our cognitive understanding of the metaphysical notions of space and time.
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My current research and art practice explores Yuval Noah Harari’s "collective myth", the notion that the mass cooperation which defines Homo Sapiens and differentiates us from our primate cousins, is the ability to conceive mythological entities within the conscious and give these myths manifestation through collective belief and actions 1. Much like the Michel Foucault’s "apparatus", which describes the process of using sets of practices, bodies of knowledge, measures and institutions as a way to control and orient the behaviours and thoughts of human beings 2, these entities are ubiquitous and as such influence our every action and perspective. I am interested in situating this phenomenon into the canon of modern philosophy, specifically the ontological theories of Martin Heidegger where he discusses the relationship between ‘Da-sein’; self and ‘Mitda-sein’; other3, and Jean Paul Sartre who considers the ‘They’ as opposed to the self 4. Drawing on these theories provides a more existential perspective on the notion of collective myth, which Harari describes on a more anthropological level. My work considers the reach of collective myth as the omnipotent model with which we interpret the empirical world around us. By using the notions of nation state and clock time as examples of collective myth, I aim to highlight the collective's subverted interpretations of what space and time are.
1 Yuval Noah Harari, "Sapiens, A Brief History of Humankind", (London: Vintage, 2014), 27.
2 Giorgio Agamben, "What is an Apparatus?", (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2009), 13.
3 Martin Heidegger, "Being and Time", (New Jersey: Wiley-Blackwell, 1978), pp. 10-112.
4 Jean Paul Sartre, "Being and Nothingness", (London: Methuen & Co, 1969), pp. 413-422.