Definition: The hallucination, which occurs behind the eyelids caused by pressure or absence of light.
Phosphene considers the function of a screen, untied to the presence of a viewer. Translating a screens perspective by visualising the thoughts and images it observes. Merging found footage sourced from screens, with documentation of digital displays installed in their surroundings. The work contrasts the rapid development and modernization of Beijing to the vacant landscapes within Inner Mongolia. In this paradigm screens work as a bridge, supporting a constant flow of visual information, ultimately affixed to it’s programed output — a digital frame within a physical space. Through this flow the screen becomes resituated as a mirror, replaying an inherited reflection of the society and structure they find themselves displaced within.
Artists
Trent Crawford and Finn Astle are artists based in Melbourne. The two met during their studies at the Victorian College of the Arts, from which they created a collaborative film practice that runs alongside their individual work. Phosphene, 2018 is the third iteration of this process. As a collective, they have exhibited together nationally and internationally. Their joint work has been the recipient of awards, including first place in the National Campus Art prize for their work After the Tone, 2016.