Gill Baldwin

artistiek onderzoek - beeldhouwen - digitaal - experimenteel - ecologie

In her work, Gill Baldwin studies our relationship with the artificial. Zooming in on technology, machinery, intelligence, and the particularities of on- and offline worlds, Baldwin carefully maps potential repercussions and consequences of the ever-transforming kinship between humans and (technologic) artificiality; human made objects and phenomena on the verge of becoming autonomous. Latest exhibitions include the Van Gogh Museum (2022) and V2 Lab for Unstable Media (2021). Her research has been recognized by the Piet Zwart Institute Alumni Award and in 2019 she received the Nova Scotia Talent Trust Young Artist of Excellence Award. She was an artist in residence at the HCA Community of Art at Roodkapje in Rotterdam for 2020-2021.

Reedbar Series (2022) - Medium: Linocut on Paper Dimensions: A5 The Reedbar series reimagines the root system of the Common Reed, a pioneer species for land reclamation, as rebar for structural foundation.

Water Fall (2021) - Medium: Steel, DC motor, pvc digital print on vinyl Dimensions: 105cm x 175cm A photograph from the popular stock photography website Unsplash is enhanced and printed to a 4 meter length, and rotated with a motion borrowed from street advertisements. Reflecting on the concept of nature as a reproduced set of images and re shared experiences, when a machine replicates the photographic qualities of nature, what is left?

Rolling Landscapes (2021) - Medium: Steel, chains, DC motor, natural grasses. Dimensions: Various When constructing the human-made nature reserve of Marker Wadden, 20,000 units of plants known as the common reed also known as the latin name Phragmites Australis were propagated into the sandy soil in order to stabilize the land. What does it mean to create nature? In the sculpture Rolling Landscapes hundreds of Phragmites australis also known as are individually cut and placed into floral water tubes with violent precision reeds are forced into a performative rotation. The sculpture explores the tension between the plants' fragility, the desperate preservation to keep these plants alive, and the rough, raw, physical violence inherent in manufacturing these natural spaces.

As Seen in Nature (2020) - Medium: Aluminum, Arduino, motor, 3D printed PLA, wood, natural grasses. Dimensions: 50cm x 22cm x 150cm Often when taking the train from Rotterdam to Amsterdam, I am struck by the regularity of the landscape. Here it seems that we have domesticated nature to an extent that there is hardly anything left. A row of natural grasses gently wave as if being blown by a breeze, the soothing movements made possible by a machine constructed for this very purpose. A reflection on our idealization of nature and the great lengths we as humans strive to recreate nature, once it has been lost.

Bliss (Solo Exhibition) - Bliss presents a natural world that is replicated, reproduced and fetishized until a mere mockery is left. The exhibition is a reflection on human-made materials behaving surprisingly, badly, and unexpectedly in order to produce an illusion of authenticity. Bliss is the domestication of the sublime, the myth of the natural and the relentless pursuit of the idea of wilderness. Bliss is supported by WindSims, a soundscape made by Ymer Marinus. WindSims was created with a tool that analyses a sound recording and transforms it into data that is used to control the internal parameters of the synthesizer. For this piece, recordings of the wind blowing were used to create these data-movements. As humans have an instinctual knowledge for natural patterns, WindSims reminds us of the feeling of blowing winds, even though it is completely synthetic.