Statement and Bio

Artist Statement

I make interactive kinetic art to breathe life and movement into the mechanistic shapes and forms that populate my mind. I experiment with a wide range of materials that allow me to explore the often-surprising connections between space and time, which includes concepts of motion, causality, and delayed action. I often incorporate circular shapes and cyclical movements into my sculptures to reflect my interest in narrative structures whose endings signify a return to the beginning. This approach to sculpture—often seen as a static art form— provokes my audience into thinking narratively, calling on them to make acts of judgment and interpretation on the spot.

My recent work has been focused on exploring physical methods of communication, the choreography of message sending, and signal clarity in the presence of visual noise. How might a viewer parse or comprehend encoded information when overwhelmed by ongoing motion? I have furthermore sought to understand how the content of a message shifts when the rate of transmission is slowed, the experience of message inundation, and how listening or interpretation works in a purely visual language.

Borrowing techniques from industrial design and architecture, I take advantage of recent technological advancements in digital fabrication methods (e.g., computer-aided design, illustration software and rapid prototyping machines) in order to build physical objects in the world and expand upon a centuries-old craft of mechanistic art. Finally, my work utilizes various materials, both for practical considerations of continued motion, as well as aesthetic juxtaposition.

Bio

Eric Hagan is an interactive and kinetic artist based in Astoria, NY.

His recent artwork explores the physical methods of communication, the choreography of message sending, and signal clarity in the presence of visual noise. In his investigations, he has sought to understand how the content of a message shifts when the rate of transmission is slowed, the experience of message inundation, and how listening or interpretation works in a purely visual language.

Eric holds an MPS in Interactive Telecommunications from NYU and a BA in Philosophy from Duke University. He has exhibited works at Laboratory Spokane, WA, the Knockdown Center, Governor's Island Art Fair, and Greenpoint Gallery. He is also an author of two books: Learn Electronics with Arduino: An Illustrated Beginner's Guide to Physical Computing and Easy micro:bit Projects.