BENTLEY FARRINGTON |
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Proving Ground tempts the question, when the trial becomes the object and the documentation becomes the work can the art live simultaneously in both places comfortably and legitimately? Proving Ground is the result of necessity in the ongoing practice of artist Bentley Farrington, initially birthed out of building a testing rig for the rapid development of projections and sound output but as work progressed it became apparent to Bentley that what resulted was something quite sculptural. What remains are the images of the test, which remain in the built context; foreign to that which is commonplace in art yet somewhat complimentary to their surroundings. At the same time the images of the structure, in Red Green & Blue could be quite uncomfortable to look at; with their dense nature and tight cropping, this dichotomy further influences the contrast between that which is final and that which is ongoing. Bentley intended a sense of looping, where the images are formatted to resemble stills from a video such that the images became components individually in terms of the work. Essentially how the images are displayed together and their relationship to the sculptural rig he had constructed is where the work exists. Proving Ground takes its name from military language, the reservation where weapons or other relevant technology are tested but the title also manages to evoke a feeling that the Artist, at some level, is always trying to prove something to themselves and those that they make work for. |
