Infinite Resolution with Parker Heyl
As an engineer, educator, roboticist and artist, Parker creates kinetic sculptures which emphasise the aura of physical objects and voluntarily relinquish computerisation in favor of an analog aesthetic. He views the physical as extremely sophisticated and infinitely complex, which the digital world often intentionally simplifies. Situated against dark backdrops, his works often look and feel like digital sculptures but in fact carry the physical motion of abstract mathematics driven by imperfections of its materiality.
Info
Parker’s practice is one that questions our definition and understanding of technology. Somewhere along the lines, notions of intelligence, progress and capability got muddied up with technology – especially digital. But technology requires a larger, deeper definition, an understanding that comes by going back to basic understandings of analogue and mechanical technology. The case is not for higher resolution, but for an infinite resolution, because that is how our world is.
INFINITE RESOLUTION is a newsletter capsule dispatched by the artist Parker Heyl and ArtBizTech. Over the month of June 2021, an episode will be released every Friday, taking subscribers on a four-episode immersion in Parker’s practice and research.
About the artist
Parker Heyl is an engineer, educator, roboticist, and artist. He creates kinetic sculptures which emphasise the aura of physical objects and voluntarily relinquish computerised regulation in favor of an analogue aesthetic. Before joining the Interactive Architecture Lab as a tutor and researcher, Parker worked as a roboticist at the Harvard iLab developing soft robotic technologies. He is trained as a carpenter and currently practices as a kinetic artist, designing installations for music venues and festivals such as Coachella. Recent exhibitions include CentroCentro Madrid, Signal Festival Prague, and Winter Lights Festival London.