| jenny
hunt (england) |
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holly
darton
Exhibition
open to the public on |
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 |
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| previous work by the artist |
| One
of the main elements of Jenny Hunt’s work is the use of methodology.
The application of scientific method provides proof of a theory and
seemingly establishes it as fact. The believable conclusions establish
a certain amount of security or at least the illusion of security.
For the scientist an accepted theory is there to be disproved. Richard
Feynman said ‘the exceptions to any rules are the most interesting
in themselves, for they show us that the old rule is wrong. And it
is most exciting then to find what the right rule, if any, is.’
It is this uncertainty in science that is both unsettling and inspiring.
Revolutionary theories include this element of error and random behaviour,
as in Heisenburgs’ Uncertainty Principle and chaos theory. Trying to comprehend theories such as particle wave duality almost seems absurd. With the evident instability in science and some of its more obscure theories, there seems to be a point where anything seems possible no matter how nonsensical. The ridiculous is evident in Hunt’s performances in which she uses her pseudo-science to attempt to explain a ridiculous theory. However seemingly absurd there is usually a real study not so far from her fictional proposition. One example of this is her performance I Don’t Want Malaria made in response to her time spent in the Malaria Unit with David Conway and his colleagues. In this performance, she claims that persons studying malaria have a higher concentration of a specific hormone in their bodies that causes an inclination of the left hand's middle finger to the left. There appears to be similar existing studies where the inclination of a finger due to testosterone levels is linked to sexuality. In I Don’t Want Malaria the use of illustrations, specifically a video, comments on the role usually adopted by the artist as the illustrator to aid the communication of science theory. last updated 27.11.02 | site designed and maintained by Adrian Cousins |