Phillip Stearns

Phillip Stearns Instrument

Phillip Stearns Instrument. Photo from "Homebrew Electronics: A Studio Visit with Phillip Stearns" by Ceci Moss for Rhizome. (Mar 22, 2012)

Deluge

Deluge. Installed in "Transmittal" at GCCA (2012). (Apr 10, 2018)

Deluge

Deluge. Phillip Stearns (Apr 28, 2012)

Writes Stearns, "My work lies at the intersection of art, philosophy, and science, spanning a variety of disciplines, drawing upon a multiplicity of mediums. Through installation, audio, video, circuit sculpture, writing, photography, performance art, music composition, and agriculture, my work explores the dynamic relationship that exists between technology and society. A technological practice---its tools, bodies of knowledge, systems of meaning, and methods of thought---entail a complex of supporting economic structures, political machines, power relations, and social implications. Identifying modes of cultural production and ideology recorded on the surface of technology and embedded within its tools; fostering creativity as opposed to productivity; and exploiting the limitations imposed on a system to expose alternate possibilities are integral to my artistic practice. I view electronics as complex artificial living systems, organisms existing within interconnected economies and ecosystems. Accepting the alien language of electronics as familiar and natural, and in essence human, lifts the veil of mythology surrounding modern technological tools---their origins and applications---allowing a glimpse at the economic and political dynamics restructuring society according to specific ideologies. The driving force within my work comes from an oscillation between an intense fascination with technological objects and a deep skepticism towards modern applications of technology, especially in the creation of closed circuits of production/consumption. The dynamics of society and the environment emerge as central concerns. What are the implications of applying contemporary technological thinking to more primitive techniques and technologies as new starting points for re-conceptualizing the present and re-imagining the future?"