The dynamics involved in swarm intelligence interest me, for they relate directly to optimal human experience. Decentralized control, perceptive response to local cues, and simple rules of thumb add up to a startlingly effective strategy toward attaining collective goals that serve the interests of an entire community... Two years ago, consumed with the simple elegance of this dynamic, I spent a great deal of time on the balcony of New York’s Grand Central Station, where I studied and photographed human patterning on the enormous floor below. Investigation of that experience, combined with current personal events, moves me to consider the responsibility of an individual who moves through space, the impact of his having done so, and the remnants of his presence – i.e.: the presence of absence; the strength and fallibility of memory; the fact that our respective actions matter, even if we don’t see how.
"Presence of Absence I" (detail view), 2010, kilnformed glass 46 x 46 x 2.25 inches (installed)
Photo: P. Foster
Catharine Newell was selected by Western Art & Architecture as “One to Watch,” was chosen four times by Corning Museum of Glass for the annual New Glass Review, and has been featured on Oregon Public Broadcasting’s Art Beat. Newell’s work can be found in the permanent collections of the Academy of Arts & Design at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, the Hotel Murano in Tacoma, Washington, and the Hunter Museum of American Art in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
"Presence of Absence I," 2010, kilnformed glass 46 x 46 x 2.25 inches (installed)
