5 Minutes with New Media Artist Dianne Harris
Five Minutes With New Media Artist Dianne Harris
Coinciding with the City of London’s Women: Work and Power season, Mayfair’s Sketch interiors were filled with a series of neo-postmodernism works by acclaimed female artists for an exhibition unsurprisingly called ‘Women Empowered’.
One of the artistic talents exhibiting her work and celebrating the subject of women is international New Media Artist and the Co-Founder, Director and Curator of Kinetica Museum, Dianne Harris. Over the last twenty years, Dianne has been showcasing her work worldwide and has collaborated with music groups like Future Sound of London and Coldcut.
Her mesmerising holographic installation ‘Power Women’ at Sketch caught my eye, so we quickly caught up with her to peek beyond the image and inside the mind of the artist whose usage of multi-dimensional media, sculpture and installation merges with science, psychology, philosophy and mythology in creating her art.
What were the decisive elements that drew you towards new media art as the platform of your artistic expression?
I love anything pioneering and challenging, anything that can open up new ways of thinking and pushes boundaries. I have always been drawn to the magic of light, kinetic and performative art from a very young age. New Media Art offers endless possibilities of experimentation because the materials are vast. Magnets, for instance, play a huge role in my work, not only as a medium but also for what they symbolise. They hold the knowledge of the earth and cosmos within them. Attraction, repulsion, and emotions like love all come from magnetic energy. The medium itself can be very powerful.
What is the most challenging part of being a new media artist?
The technical detail in achieving what you have in your mind.
What do you believe is key in creating a good new media piece?
That the work speaks for itself and you can feel some kind of power or a profound message behind the work. However many circuits, motors or mechanisms, the message and concept are first and foremost.
What is your creative process like?
Euphoric at first, like an epiphany or divine intervention, then calculating and practical while the mind tries to catch up, then experimental and then euphoric again – if it succeeds!
What is your favourite subject matter?
Life, death, duality, perception, illusion, transformation, transcendence, harnessing the invisible and connecting to the unknown.
What is the best part about creating art using various mediums?
Experimentation and freedom to discover any realm.
What does your artwork aim to say to your audience?
Many of my concepts focus on qualities and powers that we secretly possess, or are able to tune into. My aim is to reveal these, to manifest energy into reality, to harness invisible realms and delve beyond the surface. To show things not seen. My works are performative and demonstrate these invisible qualities on many levels. An energetic dialogue between the viewer and the work.
Apart from applying science, psychology and mythology, a lot of your work references various philosophies. What is your life philosophy?
I am very interested in ancient knowledge and bringing it back into the modern world, there is so much to discover and share. Through my art I often focus on powerful symbolism, cosmic connections and references to a heightened mind and consciousness. I am fascinated by our latent inner power and how to ignite, harness and utilise it. We are highly in tune with each other, the nature and the cosmos. Twenty years ago I experienced a massive trauma in my life and it led me on a quest to find out what is beyond this plane. I delved into the depths of life itself. I experienced and saw miracles and connected to other dimensions. My work often relates to these miracles I witnessed and experienced. When the work is pure and offers a direct message, I believe people respond and tune in.
How do you see the role of new media art in the future?
The future holds no bounds! Artists, designers and architects are crossing over into every field: Cosmology, engineering, mathematics, genetics, science, politics, and saving the planet. Artists have a golden key, they are not limited by the rules. They are free of mind and thought and can break boundaries and barriers. I believe more artists should shape the world.
What are you currently working on?
I’m currently working on my second holographic theatre performance. The first one debuted at Kinetica’s Anniversary Show and focused on the Dervish and reaching transcendence through whirling. My new work is based around ancient ‘Munay Ki’ shamanic rites and empowerment. ‘Power Women’ at Sketch are fragments of some of the characters in the performance. The dates are to be announced soon. In November I will be exhibiting in a group Light show entitled ‘Dark Light at the exciting new arts centre near Glastonbury, the first ‘Off-Grid Art’ centre in the UK. All works will be powered by solar energy and steam.
Are there any upcoming Kinetica Museum events that we can look forward to?
Kinetica are currently focusing on growing their collection ready to tour nationally & internationally for 2019. The collection is taking great shape and includes the works by Gregory Barsamian, Hans Kotter, Chris Levine, Ludwig Wilding, Roger Vilder, Ivan Black, Tom Wilkinson and many others. Over the last few months we have been busy curating the ‘Invisible Realm’ exhibition in Covent Garden, as well as installations at Sketch and the Vaults for the Fantasia, ‘Sounds & Sorcery’ immersive experience.
Dianne’s holographic installation ‘Power Women’ can be viewed at Sketch until mid-November. For more information visit http://www.dianneharris.co.uk/ and http://www.kinetica-museum.org/
