Jamie North
Residency period
1 November – 22 December 2017
About
Jamie North (b. 1971, Australia) is an artist based in Sydney. His practice explores the concurrence and conflict between architectural structures and the biological world. Initially working with photography, North’s interest in the ability of plants to recover, regenerate, and reclaim an environment after human intervention has shifted towards the creation of living sculptural installations. His work has been presented at the 20th Biennale of Sydney, Australia, 2016; Tophane-i Amire Cultural and Arts Center, Istanbul, Turkey, 2015; Monash University, Melbourne, 2015, amongst other venues.
Focus
During the residency, North will be conducting photographic investigations on the ways in which local plant species manage to adapt to Singapore’s constantly changing built environment. In alignment with his long-standing interest in the intersection between the natural and the artificial, North regards Singapore as a radical case study to observe the complex tensions brimming at the interface between nature and human-made structures. He will also focus on the inescapable cycles of decomposition and renewal that, accelerated by the high humidity of the tropical climate, blur the boundaries between the organic and the man-made.
Public programmes
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Central to the artistic practice of Jamie North is the persistent observation of the built environment and its relationship with natural habitats. Departing from his latest experiments with concrete and endemic plants developed during the residency, North will trace the trajectories and shifts in his practice: from the photographic documentation of plants and their survival strategies in man-made environments to his current interest in construction materials. North’s hybrid sculptures create forms of coexistence between plants and cast concrete, as well as several by-products of industrial production, leading to the creation of poetic installations that merge the animate and the inanimate. Sharing a family history with the mining and construction industries, his works also reveal the artist’s personal interest in the rise and decline of industries and their economic and social impacts.
The talk will take place in the artist’s studio.