Jon Butt is a photographer in the most contemporary sense of the word. For Fieldcast, Butt’s solo exhibition
at Bus Projects, the artist has produced work through means of destroying a scanner, a process that has allowed him to examine what he says are “the inherent artefacts of this destruction”. The result of this examination is five photographic pieces created through camera-less photography and a video presented in the back gallery of Bus Projects. With dark lighting and spotlights on the photographic images, Butt has created an atmospheric mood that fits with his consideration of environment, space and time.
Small particles, such as minerals, slate and dust, represent landscape on a molecular yet universal level – it is through the micro that Butt considers the larger picture. Areas of study such as science fiction and quantum physics – that is, enormous, intangible ideas and theories – inform the direction of the artist’s practice and are on full display in Fieldcast.
In many ways, Butt’s work also considers the pitfalls of ‘traditional’ photography. By choosing to make images without a camera, he questions the notions of representation and documentary traditionally tied to the medium. Instead, he says he is “interested in how the inherent artefacts of this destruction – the random bits – are able to elaborate process, time and space better than simple descriptive photography”.
Fieldcast
Jon Butt
Bus Projects
5 July – 29 July
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