Alexis Rago
I merge creation myths and evolutionary theory in layered narratives that tell of the indissoluble connection and separation between the ancestral animal self and the Anthropocene human.
At times, things cannot be but inflected with a sense of the sacred, at other times they are profane, beating to the rhythm of an ancient pulse that lies within each and every one of us.
The unforeseen lockdown has prevented the artwork from being shown physically in its entirety. However, as any contingent event, it has fostered evolutionary adaptive forms and strategies.
The works shown are destined for multimedia installations in porcelain with sound, suspended sculptures and audio-visual contextual material.
About, duration 5 mins
Component parts to a future installation, porcelain
Installation maquette – porcelain, sound, vitrine, interactive
Sample of interactive sound
Left: Logos, porcelain, approximately 4 metres long. The sculpture responds acoustically to being approached with low frequency sounds increasing in volume while it calls the viewer to come closer from a voice emanating from within it.
Centre: GUT, porcelain. silent porcelain frieze in the round.
Right: Enshrinement, vitrine containing three sculptures engaged in a fragmentary conversation. Each part can be heard separately through openings close to where the voice emerges from inside the form but barely audible if viewed from a distance.
GUT is one of eight poems in which I reflect on the processes and themes contained in my practice. At the core of the poem lies the centrality of the alimentary canal as a conduit to the emergence of consciousness through the algorithms of evolution. The Grand Unification Theory – GUT – in physics surfaces during the synthesis of ideas that are normally separated into different domains. The ways in which people attempt to explain the universe, whether rationally or otherwise, share the desire to grasp the unknowable and tell stories that give a sense of place in the world. The duality that exists in this common ground is imbued into the structure of the creative system I have evolved. The poem is divided into two sections: the first, physical, and sensual, the second lies in the abstract world of consciousness and its origination. The sculpture has been similarly built with rational and sensual thinking linked indissolubly by tensions within and between body and mind.
Interactive virtual gallery
translation using a font developed for this project
Sculpture is a way of bringing myth into the world.
When I feel the clay, I touch the immemorial past where myths are made.
Contact: ragoalexis (at) gmail.com
blog. blog.alexisrago.com
Web: alexisrago.com
Inst: @alexisrago
The interactive virtual gallery was made with the generous help and expertise of Aristotle Roufanis.
All images, text and sounds © Alexis Rago 2020
Stunning work Alexis. So beautifully shot. Particularly love the shot with the animal skin, it gives me tingles.
Thanks Danielle. Janet likes the one with the animal skin too.