Platform Graduate Award 2017 – Focus on Nathan Caldecott
9th Oct 2017
Nathan Caldecott is a Fine Art graduate from The Ruskin School of Art, University of Oxford. He is one of the five artists shortlisted for the Award.
“My name is Nathan Caldecott, and I’ve been nominated for the Platform Graduate Award by Modern Art Oxford for my solo exhibition Render Stations, which brought together three lines of sculptural and digital enquiry that have been under development for the last four years.
“My practice has a focus on digital models, and their statehood in physical spaces. Engaging with architecture, finance, and social theory, I’m interested in the dual functions these models have: the roles they have to play as structural units, and the roles they could play as containers of value. My work creates a distinct distance between these dual functions, using narratives of physical value to intercept and amplify their visual systems.
“The centrepiece of Render Stations – a set of 6 kiltered cubes – references superficial and structural modes of conduction, carrying an unused 12-bit binary encryption into its structure, while being loaded with a mix of mythical, material and dematerial surfaces, including diamonds and multi-wall carbon nanotubes. It’s joined by a floor installation of the first BlackBerry mobile cameraphones that were joined in an encrypted network before being shredded and laid in a large grid. Completing the room is a GIF misusing the algorithm Photoshop uses to compress moving images, translating a set of identical rotated gradients into different tonal patterns. The GIF is displayed as a set of 4 Giclée prints.
“I have a few group exhibitions being planned as a result of Platform, and plan to launch a new suite of work with a solo exhibition in around 9 months’ time. In the meantime, I’ve started a graduate scheme in London, where I will improve my professional skills and engage with a world bigger than the one I make in my work. For any graduating artist, I wouldn’t be afraid of taking a similar move, and pursuing a career in addition to sustaining an emerging art practice.
“Every aspect of Platform – from planning the exhibition with Modern Art Oxford’s curator, to the install process, delivering a public event, and presenting my work to the selection panel – have been hugely formative experiences in helping me become a more professional creative, and a more creative professional. I’m especially grateful to Sarah Mossop, the Ruskin, the team at Modern Art Oxford, and to CVAN South East for the opportunity.”
Check out Nathan’s Instagram takeover.
Image: Render Stations, Nathan Caldecott © Modern Art Oxford, 2017. Photo: Stu Allsopp.