Where Shapes Come From

SEMICONDUCTOR / United Kingdom, United States / 2016 / Czech Premiere / 11 min.

synopsis

A description of non-randomness in the processes by which atoms join to form matter, accompanied by images from a museum laboratory. Subtle alterations to the real image are Formulas with scenes of a mineralogist’s work. Chemical equations and virtual bodies and shapes give form to the invisible processes involved in the creation of substances.

“We spent an intensive three months as artists in residence in the Mineral Sciences Laboratory at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History; this is the work that came out. The green workshop has since been redecorated and is no longer home to all these amazing curiosities.” R. Jarman, J. Gerhardt

biography

Semiconductor is the British artistic duo of Ruth Jarman (1973) and Joe Gerhardt (1972), who have been making experimental videos together for nearly twenty years. Using digital technology, they capture the materiality of nature and its structure from a scientific perspective while refl ecting on how it is represented in the media. Their unique work made in collaboration with research centres such as CERN and NASA has been shown at major festivals including the Venice Biennale.