When we hear the word "handmade," we often think of artisanal products, crafted objects, garments, or accessories. The adjective evokes images of skilled artisans or craftspeople dedicating hours to creating something precious, perhaps using ancient techniques. Passionate fashion enthusiasts might even conjure up in their minds visions of the petites mains in Haute Couture workshops, meticulously shaping delicate, timeless creations.
Leslie Thornton's latest work, "Handmade" (2023), invites us to rethink this term by blending it with technology and science. This video installation, currently displayed on two monitors in the Agnes Gund Garden Lobby at MoMA, New York (until April 1, 2025), presents dual interpretations of the term "handmade." The top screen shows natural phenomena, while the bottom one highlights scientific and technological discoveries.
A powerful storm is juxtaposed to a handmade scientific device woven by a physicist. Here, hands intricately weave aluminum foil and rope into a sock-like structure to be placed in the cryosphere, forming part of a larger antimatter experiment. This structure acts as a sensor for studying antimatter, particles with charges opposite to those of regular matter.
When matter and antimatter meet, they annihilate each other. In the early universe, following the Big Bang, antimatter nearly vanished. Thornton's work captures research that could offer insight into this mystery and, potentially, into the origins of the universe itself. Ironically, the intricate scientific tool we see being assembled here relies on simple techniques: the physicist who made it, learnt to weave by watching rug-making tutorials on YouTube.
These scenes are interwoven with haunting footage from fluid dynamics studies, tracking the unpredictable flows of liquid and sand. The visuals echo the eerie plumes seen in particle collisions, brief, nearly imperceptible events. They also mirror the torrential rain Thornton recorded on Lake Huron during a "killer storm," lying down to capture it with a handheld camera. She edited this footage, aligning the rain's vertical and horizontal trajectories to create a light-woven effect.
Thornton is a pioneer in contemporary media aesthetics known for her work at the intersections of cinema, video, and digital art. Among her seminal works is "Peggy and Fred in Hell", a 33-year serial hailed as a masterwork of contemporary film and video art, showcasing her exploration of the boundaries and potentials of media forms.
While she's not a scientist, Thornton maintains a strong curiosity about scientific researches. In her practice Thornton, is fascinated not by science per se, but by the spaces where science takes place (juxtaposed in "Handmade" to the "Spaces of the world" where storms are taking places). Her fascination extends to spaces like laboratories, including CERN, where she was an artist-in-residence in 2018 and 2019 (earlier, in 2016, she shared a CERN residency with artist James Richards to develop their collaborative project "Crossings"). Besides, Thornton is also intrigued by the material and hands-on aspects of research at institutions like the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, valuing proof and practice over theory.
Here residencies at these institutions also inspired "Ground" (2020), a video piece layering a digitally altered view of Los Angeles below a skyscape filmed at CERN, where a physicist discusses charge-parity violation. Visual effects dissolve his figure into shifting lines and grids, creating a space that oscillates between depth and surface, suggesting a destabilized "ground".
At CERN, Thornton was particularly intrigued by its "antimatter factory" and by the work of atomic physicist Michael Doser, who explained that researchers often take a hands-on approach, creating tools and components themselves rather than relying on engineers or architects. This required them to be proficient in practical skills, like using a soldering iron. When they met, Doser also pointed out that waiting for custom specifications would take months and likely result in designs that were outdated by the time they were delivered. This process-based, adaptable approach to knowledge highlighted for Thornton the common ground between science and the arts.
In a world where students are increasingly encouraged to choose STEM subjects over the arts, Thornton's experience underscores the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration. Artists' approaches to scientific spaces, like those she explores, can indeed inspire more engaging, innovative projects and remind us that blending artistic creativity with scientific rigor and artisanal skills can bring both fields to new heights.
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