HARVEY WISE

Personal statment

Harvey Wise

Artist / Designer / Composer / Creative

The context of my work sits between the parameters of art and sound. From technology to craft and static to motion; this is where I feel my interests gravitate towards. I view it as self-expression through the scope of visual and auditory practices. To me, these passions of mine are cathartic and deeply embedded in the way I approach and navigate projects. 

In view of other professionals within my field, I believe I fit into the visual-based studio practice with a focus on branding. However, the route I intend to follow dips in and out of this context, having a strong drive to reach out into multidisciplinary fields. With self-initiated as well as client-based work, I'd like to draw from my interests when appropriate to help develop my visual narrative. Although the context of my personal exploration is clear to myself, the output is something I’m keen to pursue across a multitude of different disciplines: 3d modelling, animation, photography, typography and musical composition to name a few. Though my work does tend to seek answers through new technologies I still adhere to the grassroots philosophy of sketching which forms a key component to my research and development. Technology is admittedly a helpful tool but merely part of the process for me. Honesty is another theme I’ve identified thought my work which I believe reflects the way I approach and tackle projects.

To explain how honesty plays a part in my practice, I will briefly cover my photography series of self-portraits. The campaign was on mental health and aimed to visualise and evoke the claustrophobic reality of depression. I encapsulated this through the use of dramatic lighting and the motif of a pair of diving goggles filled with water. Throughout the portraits the elapsing of time was a variable I visualised, using the varying growth of my hair over the course of the year. It ended up creating a visual loop in time to reflect the experience, the Groundhog Day of depression. The result was a visual endurance test and an honest depiction of my struggle with mental illness.

A project which furthers my multidisciplinary interest can be seen within my publication of my dissertation. This was on the topic of musical hacking seen through the work of the composer's John Cage and Steve Reich. The project 'reel to real' adapted the medium of a publication to the context of the artists in question. This resulted in adopting the mechanics of a tape recorder. The text content was condensed down to a single line and read through a purposely build adaptation of a classic reel to reel machine. True to the context of the dissertation, the project diminished the formal premise of legibility to explore more conceptual experimentation.