The ideas for my films often emerge out of my research process during residencies within science institutions. As such, they explore diverse subject matter such as environmental modelling systems, the Covid pandemic, active matter systems and life science museum collections. Animated lines are a recurring motif in these experimental shorts - they appear at key moments in the films. Perhaps it is not surprising given that my early practice was focused upon drawing. My methods vary; they include drawing by hand, with a digital pen and drawing with code. Drawing is a form of enquiry that historically connected art and science. It is a subjective response that is particularly apt for contextualising scientific research and placing it firmly within the cultural realm. Culture as Science. Science as Culture.
This film evolved out of a residency where I was based in two spaces: a human anatomy laboratory and a Life Science Museum at Kings College, London. Both spaces were rich sources of inspiration to explore ideas about the interrelationships between human and more-than-human life, biodiversity, and the morphologies of different species.
My process often begins by experimenting with the materials and objects I encounter in residencies. I intuitively started creating 3D paper prints of anatomy models (hearts, brains) and objects from the life science museum collections (corals, bones, feathers, horns), and organised them into my own artistic systems of categorisation.
Residency at Kings College, London
The film begins with the life science collections, which are methodically arranged inside cabinets. We see a scientist busy labelling these objects. The voices of children read out the labels – many of the species are at risk because of the crisis that previous generations have created. As the scientist works, the boundaries between different objects start dissolving as animated lines ‘grow’ between them to connect them with each other. This merging of specimens breaks down the order that the scientist is trying to create and suggests interconnections between different species and the earth that sustains life.
Still from In Pericula: At Risk
Still from In Pericula: At Risk
The notion that humans are somehow separate from more-than-human life is at the root of the biodiversity and climate crisis. A costume from my 3D prints – a hybrid human creature – is worn by dancer Gemma Higginbotham to embody this. Her performance brings the hybrid creature to life. She doesn’t speak in the film, the sounds of different species become her voice. She is first seen very close up with the costume filling the screen so we are unsure what we are looking at. She is lying across the same table that the scientist was categorising the specimens upon. Her final performance describes a life force that is injured, damaged and struggling to survive.
Still from In Pericula: At Risk
Still from In Pericula: At Risk
Commissioned by Animate Projects during spring 2020 in the early days of the pandemic, ‘in the same breath’ focuses upon internal body imagery to evoke the intensity of the first few weeks of lockdowns. A soundtrack of heartbeats, breathing, hand washing and swallowing is accompanied by drawings of the internal body. Lung and heart imagery suggests circulatory systems under threat, and drawings of brain scans are accompanied by anxious whisperings to evoke the fear and claustrophobia of the first lockdowns. Animated drawings generated by creative coding methods emphasise that data and algorithms played a key role in modelling and predicting future outbreaks. The film ends with three figures isolated from each other.
Still from in the same breath
Commissioned by Lancaster University, UK, the animation responds to their ongoing research into environmental modelling. The scientists work with a variety of datasets (eg flood risk, habitats, biodiversity etc) and process modelling technologies to predict the impact of climate change upon ecosystems. The animation merges still images of Morecambe Bay – an important site for their research - with drawings inspired by the visual language of data maps. I wanted to bring the abstract data maps to life and to embed them into the landscape. The drawings were originally made by hand and subsequently animated using creative coding methods. This mirrors the scientific process which also moves from analogue site (collecting samples/specimens) into a digital visualisation of the data. The soundtrack is the voice of Prof. Gordon Blair poetically describing the challenges of the research. The confluence of coded drawings, photographs and voice, evokes the complexities, the uncertainties and the immense scope of the research. The animated lines allow us to imagine future scenarios in a way that abstract data maps alone cannot.
Still from Modelling Morecambe Bay
The voices of a group of people describe sudden and profound changes in their lives that alter their perceptions and sense of identity. Their stories take us on a journey through this experience as they come to terms with the social, psychological and physiological impact of a life-changing event. The animation explores the diverse ways in which individuals negotiate this journey by merging animated drawings with video footage. The drawings create a space for imagination, connection and empathy.
Still from All of a sudden
About the artist
Daksha Patel is a multi-disciplinary artist who works across a wide range of media, materials and technologies. Her inter-disciplinary practice has engaged with Biophysics, Applied Mathematics, Environmental Modelling, Linguistics and Neuroscience. Research residencies within academic institutions such as King’s College, London, regularly inform her practice. She has an ongoing interest in scientific processes of mapping, measurement and visualisation, and has made work with Lidar scanning, photogrammetry, bio-sensors and creative coding. She is currently a Creative Fellow at the University of Exeter working with Environmental justice. Daksha’s work is in public and private collections. She exhibits nationally and internationally and was awarded the ‘Brian Cox Prize for Excellence in Public Engagement with Research’ in 2020.
