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A Mote it is…art in the age of nanotechnology

A Perth International Arts Festival exhibition - 5 February - 30 April 2010

The unique works developed for art in the age of nanotechnology operate at the intersection of art, science and technology, demonstrating innovative examples of contemporary art and scientific collaboration.

Based on his research into the translation of data from scientific imaging technologies (Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), Mass Spectrometry, bathymetric and GIS) into immersive visual and sonic experiences using digital tools such as game engines, Phillips was invited to exhibit at ‘art in the age of nanotechnology’. The aim for the select group of international artists was to “challenge, explore and critique our understanding of the material world” and “present new ways of seeing, sensing and connecting with matter that’s minuscule and abstract.”1

This digital installation consists of a large-scale interactive audio-visuals projection incorporating face recognition software and a AFM data of a speck of dust (a mote) from the artist's eye. It explores a technological and philosophical discourse around scientific imaging offering alternative nano-scale representations. Referencing the illusion or manifestation that is Hamlet’s fathers ghost, it provides an alternative but familiar narrative for scientific enquiry and new insights into our sensing of the material world.

A Mote it is... is now in the John Curtain Gallery permanent collection. The use of Game Engine technologies developed for this work continues with the Wolfson Nanotechnology Laboratory (Plymouth University) and CNSI (UCLA) and has produced further iterations which adopt similar narrative strategies for locating quantitative scientific data within a qualitative and experiential framework.