the bleak existence of a synthetic 1 - 30.11.07 - cheapart
Jamed Dean Diamond, curator: Samia Ashraf
20-24.5.05 Death in a Place Like This
1-30.11.03 Castle Keep
Introduction
James Dean Diamond has been developing a photographic trilogy over a period of eight years. Formed of Part 1 ‘Death In A Place Like This’ (exhibited at Art Athina 2005 - an installation comprising of fifty-three black-and-white prints), Part 2 ‘The Bleak Existence Of A Synthetic’ and Part 3 ‘Approaching The Void.’ Each body of work is conceived as a large-scale photographic installation, which is characterised by a distinct visual sensibility. Applying a conceptual approach to his practice, the trilogy is an exploration of a fictional plane and an inquiry into artificial intelligence.
The Bleak Existence Of A Synthetic
James Dean Diamond renders the anarchic and brutalistic architecture of Athens into an abstracted and futuristic labyrinth, with a series of monochromatic panoramic photographs. Through the study of an urban landscape, the work on a personal level is concerned with the solitary experience of migrating to a foreign place, where ideas of human isolation and notions of escapism are addressed.
In the context of this trilogy, a Synthetic being has been created to inhabit this illusory world. The pictorial narrative of the fifty-two transplendent images broadly begins in a graphic and indefinable environment. This represents the transformation of a human into an artificial character whose journey develops ethereally and gradually unfolds into a bleak and decaying place. The interest lies chiefly in conveying a certain melancholy as the Synthetic faces rejection from society.
Shot on a panoramic format, largely ‘in camera,’ with tungsten film and available light Diamond plays with the perspective on the picture plane. He captures optical illusions from projections and reflections, beams of light, and constellations of elements. Particular pieces possess a seductive luminosity while others appear to be composed of fields of lines and dots. Limiting the tone and palette range creates a stark state that evokes a feeling of absence.
Diamond’s metropolis is reminiscent of science fiction cinema and literature and is influenced in particular by Ridley Scott’s ‘Blade Runner’ (1982) and the visionary author H. G. Wells. Inspiration is taken from the British band Radiohead’s innovative albums ‘Kid A’ and ‘Amnesiac’ and from contemporary scientific investigation. Diamond refers to the inventor and visionary Ray Kurzweil, who suggests that by 2029 mankind will be able to store the human mind, decode its thoughts and memories onto a computer and create a person with a virtual brain called ‘human version 2.’
Samia Ashraf