Match Bonsai Project
Match Bonsai explores labour, value, care and destruction through the slow construction of delicate bonsai trees made from thousands of matchsticks. The work balances precision and fragility, culminating in moments of ignition that transform extended making into a brief, spectacular disappearance.
In 2010, The Union Gallery (Kingston, Ontario) invited me to produce a live art-making event culminating in a tree burning. Highlights are shown here
Made in 2010, this touchscreen animation allows viewers to explore the tree from multiple angles at key stages of its construction. Building on code developed during Digital Media Labs in Hull by myself and Ben Dalton, the work enabled the animation to be navigated intuitively through touch.
These beautiful slow-motion films show a branch and a match head burning inside a device known as a bomb. Filmed with Ben Thorne and Dr Alexey Burluka at the University of Leeds, the Schlieren footage (250fps and 500fps) visualises the changing density of gases released during combustion rather than visible light.