Oct, 2024
The Way
The Way
"The Way" is an installation consisting of 12 motorised houseflies. Flies carry various symbolic meanings and have appeared frequently throughout art and literature. In this installation, the flies are stuck, endlessly tapping on the windows of Nomas Gallery. While we can clearly see the windows, the flies seem unable to, as they repeatedly bump into it, attempting to move past this human-made barrier.
However, the flies' movements are not random; they are buzzing in Morse code. Each one cycles through a unique combination of the words “yes", “no", “maybe", “sometimes", “always", and “never", creating moments of agreement and opposition. These words represent different levels of certainty and frequency. The use of Morse code, along with utilising a dead language, hints at biosemiotics and animal communication.
The installation's title, "The Way," invites multiple interpretations of the word: it could refer to a method or style of doing something, or to a path or route one might travel.
Artist's Bio
Tom Fairlamb makes durational, moving sculptures that blur into performance, video, sound, and drawing. He approaches making with a playful curiosity to serious questions about the world we are a part of. These questions often remain unanswered, with humorous yet tragic outcomes. The works are left open allowing for different readings depending on the context and the viewer’s own psychological, philosophical, and political understandings. Suggestive of narratives without being didactic, Fairlamb’s work can act as warnings, lessons, morality tales and parables.
By observing the world's cycles and processes, he simulates interactions between nature and technology. His work shows the systems and connections that are often hidden and invisible to us.
Artist's Website
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