Sarah Smuts-Kennedy speaks to gallerist Dan du Bern on the occasion of her new exhibition Joy Field at Sumer, Tauranga—discussing her approach as an artist, what inspires her, and how she believes art can best function in the world at this specific point in time.
“Joy Field...refers to my interest in Timothy Morton’s concept of hyperobjects: objects that are so massively distributed in time and space as to transcend spatiotemporal specificity. He uses this idea to explore concepts such as global warming, however I co-opt this term to describe my desire to create artefacts that might populate the atmosphere to create an alternative hyperobject of balance and harmony—a joy field. The atmosphere is the largest thing we live within, and it is full of information. Immaterial information in the form of thought forms and frequencies from radio, satellites, to Wi-Fi and material information in the form of chemistry and biology. Rain and snow, by the way, is triggered by a microbial process. These things impact on the way an atmosphere feels to all living beings.”
— Sarah Smuts-Kennedy
[To continue reading please click the PDF or web link below]