With the growing presence of technology and artificial intelligence in our daily life, our perception of reality is constantly questioned and challenged. What was once considered an unalterable truth can now be falsified or purposely constructed by image production algorithms and machines. Artists have been observing this rapid evolution from its epicentre. Straying away from its presence or embracing its benefits, they unanimously had to consider the impact it would have on their practice, as a detrimental or expansive tool of creation.
This month we sat down with British artists: Lucas Dupuy and Jack Warne, to discuss the impact of technology on their work, their inspirations and their inclusion in our latest exhibition ‘Double Take’.
Lucas Dupuy (b. 1992) has developed a distinctive artistic language that aims to find an intersection between the interconnected subjects of science and nature. Through his atmospheric works, he explores both their aesthetic appeal and practical applications. He uses technology in his thinking process but preserves a manual realisation that grants his body of work a profound organic aspect.
Jack Warne (b. 1995) work is recognized for its innovative integration of digital techniques and transmission of personal narratives. His paintings explore the interplay of technology and visual art through the prism of memory and perception, delving deeper into the subject with the use of augmented reality.
You both integrate digital tools in the process of creating your paintings, how do you perceive the growing presence of technology in the production of art?
LUCAS D: I think it is a really exciting time, artists are engaging with new materials and techniques.
Currently I am using a CNC router to cut reliefs into Valchromat, then using these reliefs I create graphite rubbings on paper. Using a computer controlled machine has been a real learning curve to kind of give away the control of making objects to a coded system. I want to engage with the contrast between the tactile craft element and the machine.
JACK W: Digital technologies' presence and influence in art and art production are incredibly profound. This reflects society's evolution, particularly in the past decade, where the growth and integration of digital systems in our daily lives are unprecedented and cannot be ignored. As an artist, my role is to be a vessel, studying, living, and reflecting on what it means to be human at this point in time. I aim to create beauty, intrigue, and offer a perspective into moments that might be forgotten but are deeply meaningful to us as humans. When people experience my work, I want them to focus on the experiences that define them as humans, not as machines.
On that note, is it something you have always considered an integral part of your practice or did you come to it while progressively developing your visual language?
JACK W: I began utilising technology to create my art out of necessity. While a scholar at the Royal College of Art, I could no longer afford to buy physical paint. This predicament led me to discover profound methods to articulate the images I wanted to create, heavily influenced at the time by Mid-century Abstract Expressionists like Willem de Kooning and Helen Frankenthaler. I found I could imbue the sensations I felt when seeing their physical paintings, propelling my then-embryonic practice forward. Now, long after graduating, I still use many of these techniques, along with other exciting production methods. Throughout this development, my relationship with digital systems became a focal point of my artistic research. I began questioning the technologies themselves and their effect on our perceptions and consciousness, specifically looking at companies like Elon Musk's Neuralink. Because I grew up blind due to genetic corneal dystrophy, this traumatic experience gave me a unique perspective and started my obsession with physiological glitches and virtual errors.
LUCAS D: I think it has always played an important role within my practice. Growing up during the Information Age, the internet and photoshop slowly became a part of my life as a teenager. Using these tools early on informed my way of working in the studio, even in subtle ways. Technology became an integral medium in all areas of my practice from designing books to producing music and collaging imagery.
The other digital media that has played a huge role in the development of my practice is video games. I have been referencing games such as Half life 2 episode 1 & Deus Ex. These games have incredible level design and environments. The colour palettes and the kind of blurry graphic quality of these early 2000’s games is something that really Inspires the paintings with the grainy and hazy textures.
I work in a lot of different ways in the studio. Recently I have been producing hundreds of small airbrush works on paper. I find them really useful to work out certain compositions or movements. This process is very integral to the development of the mark making within the paintings. I then take these works on paper and start cropping, zooming and collaging them together psychically & digitally.
Both your works play with that tension, they blur the line between the digital and the manually produced, how do you perceive them? How would you like them to be perceived?
LUCAS D: I would like the viewer to be able to connect to the works via a feeling or a state, I am searching for a subtle calm feeling with the production of these works, Having the viewer engage with the work in a way that evokes some sort of serene feeling is what I would strive for within these works.
With this new series of paintings, I have been researching and referencing Fractals. They are geometric shapes that repeat themselves in scale patterns. This is sometimes called expanding or unfolding symmetry and it appears surprisingly frequently in nature.
The paintings could be perceived as really clean and polished in photographs, but in real life they are full of discrepancies and are clearly made by hand. The surface of these paintings is hessian, there are bumps and marks, the paint builds up on this surface creating many textures that could feel somewhat like a landscape or satellite imagery.
JACK W: My work epitomises the digital meeting the analogue. On the surface of each painting, colourful digitally sprayed ink resolves onto a hard, hand-rendered surface. This surface is made from carefully composed layers of curtain and soft fabrics, which bring their own textures to the painting. On top of the soft materials, I have drawn and layered tile adhesive and glue (a form of plaster), creating a unique final resolution where the ink meets, forming the final work. This balance is unique, and I aim to draw my audience in, making them question the physical nature of the work intimately, reinforcing the picture that the painting's surface holds.
The artists presented in our show all have a relationship with technology and machinery in some aspects of their works, do you feel any connection or are inspired by any of them?
LUCAS D: Wade Guyton’s work really resonates with me, I visited his show ZWEI DEKADEN MCMXCIX–MMXIX at Museum Ludwig in 2019 and I found it incredibly inspiring. The variation of marks he is able to make with an inkjet printer is a process that I found very interesting. The discrepancies that these machines can create is something I am really drawn to.
JACK W: Yes, I feel very connected to many of the artists within the show. Lucas, a good friend and studio mate, and I talk a lot and share many ideas. It is a delight to be invited to the same show! Additionally, Katharina Grosse, Wade Guyton, Rudolf Stingel, and Christopher Wool have all directly influenced my work and practice since its inception.
Both of your works have an undeniable physical quality, do you think they could exist outside of the physical realm? Maybe in a digital realm?
JACK W: Hidden beneath the surface of each of my paintings exists the work's digital counterpart, an augmented reality filter that enacts the looping moments of the dreamlike memories within the works.
LUCAS D: They can definitely exist outside the physical realm, but ultimately, I am always trying to bring physical objects into the practice, while the digital tools are still integral in producing the work.
Talking about the future, what does it hold for you, any upcoming exciting projects?
JACK W: Yes, I have many exciting projects! I will be participating at Frieze Seoul for the first time in September with Mai 36 Galerie. I also have my first solo booth at Artissima in November with Spiaggia Libera and my next solo exhibition with them in April 2025. Additionally, I have been invited to participate in a fascinating group show in London during Frieze week at a new art center in Shoreditch. The show is a new adaptation of "Sweet Harmony: Rave," which originated from the Saatchi Gallery in 2019. It will showcase installations from myself, Conrad Shawcross, Richie Hawtin, and many more!
LUCAS D: Currently I am curating a performance at Belmonte Gallery to celebrate the closing of my solo show ‘One panoramic view after another will unfold’ at Belmonte gallery in Madrid. I am also working on a collaborative sound project with producer Pavel Milyakov.
