ARTISTS TALKING

As a child I dismantled every disused device I could get my hands on, to see how it worked. This was not a destructive action, more a process of understanding; it's a characteristic that I still retain.

My work deals with society's relationship with technology and its effect on our physical environment. I find myself situated between two opposing views: that contemporary society has been swamped by technology resulting in its departure from nature; and as technology is created by us it is part of evolution and simply an extension of prehistoric man utilising flint.

Examining our interactions with the machine and the language of technology allows me to balance these two notions.

Collaborations have led to new avenues for my practice as well as supporting a critical dialogue. These range from an ongoing software-based project funded by Alt-W to a collaborative 7" vinyl recording with Irish artist, John Mathews. The formation of The Third Person, co-founded with Oliver Flexman, has enabled the development of socially engaging projects across the UK and Europe. Recent activities include Shift festival in Leeds, a video work in Dalston, London and a residency in Paris for the European Night for Emerging Creation. This site-specific context has furthered projects in partnership with artist-led organisation EmergeD based in Glasgow.

Photophonic was a two-part installation for Rooted, a project organised by EmergeD in a vacant shop space in Glasgow during 2003. Here the telecommunications network was utilised to bridge the boundary between interior and exterior space by casting participants' reactions and interactions inside the shop. The second phase used these interactions alongside animation and music elements produced from a survey of the interior. The physical dimensions were translated into audio and visual components and as a whole, projected onto the window.

For RAW (Real Art Week) in April 2004, EmergeD also commissioned Simultaneous Equations for an outdoor video screen in the centre of Glasgow. This work combined video, audio, audience participation and the internet to produce a moment of cohesion between these public realms.

Steven Dickie's work can be seen at:
www.stevendickie.com
www.thethirdperson.org
www.emerged.net
www.chateaugateau.co.uk