Kamau Amu Patton

Static Field I

Kamau Amu Patton’s painting Static Field I originates from a system of electronic and digital media. The image we see on the canvas was created by pointing a camera into its output—a gallery wall—and subsequently generating a feedback loop. Patton then records the distorted image, digitizes it and prints the file onto unprimed canvas with the help of a machine. Since canvas is a porous surface when unprimed, two people need to gradually spray the canvas with water and smooth out the wet surface in order for the machine’s potter arm to work. The result is a choreography between two people and a machine, working together in a way that is uncomfortable or unusual and constantly learning from each other. The distortion or visual noise we see—also called signature—emanates from the technology and the process itself. Similar to the familiar white noise we remember watching on our TVs, the noise is the result of atmospheric, electromagnetic, radio, and sometimes even thermal waves from nearby devices. Patton purposefully leaves this in to make the intangible tangible and capture traces of these invisible forms that are all around us.