Brendan Dawes
The Art of Form and Code

That Was The Week That Was – 9th April 2023

When I was commuting to Manchester everyday – something I did for over ten years – I often bemoaned the state of the railways in the UK. Unreliable, over crowded and dirty, these trains are something I’m glad to see the back of now that I no longer make that journey.

Yet there was one advantage; the one of having a space to read. It was only after I stopped having to make that commute I realised how little I was reading compared to how much I used to get through. After having some electrical work done at the house, where I had no power for most of the day, I decided to take time out away from screens and actually read a book. That one event reminded me how much I loved reading and how much I missed it. From that moment I decided to make time in the day to switch off, sit down with nothing but a book. I didn’t actually need a journey, train or otherwise, I could just create a space anywhere.

The book I’ve just finished it James Bridle’s Way of Being. It’s a fascinating read about what he calls the more-than-human world and how we as human being are entangled with all that exists in our environment. It talks about AI, slime mould, the Internet of Animals, plants with memory, legal systems, metal growing flowers and much much more. It’s helped me look at our world and our place within it in a new way.

Much of this week has been getting ready for travelling to Barcelona next week to install and oversee the projection mapping setup for the Digital Impact show which I’m part of. As my work is a little more involved that screens – featuring three large 3D printed sculptures, I need to go and be there to help install the work. The sculptures themselves arrived this week after being shipped by Gazelli Art House using a specialist art shipper. It’s always a nervy time when ejects are being shipped to venues, but happy to say they arrived all in one piece after just one day in customs.

I’m also making ready my talk for FITC Toronto the week after. I can never work on talk to far out from the event. I just can’t get my head into that space unless the date is near.