Robert Drummond Exhibit, Zane Bennett Contemporary Art Gallery, Santa Fe, NM

ROBERT DRUMMOND

Artist Statement:

Today in cities across the globe we are witnessing important progressions in public and private art collections. Architects and artists are creatively using new technology to exhibit imagery on large-scale, custom digital canvases. Imaging systems are being integrated into the blueprints for new construction and building renovations. Urban landscapes are evolving towards a new level of kinetic experience as video walls and programmable lighting systems allow civic centers to dynamically characterize their unique rhythms and images through the realm of public video art. My work as an artist is to navigate this maze of civic enterprise, new technology, historical research, and creative discovery to bring forth my video art pieces.

I create video art that explores this kind of modern, luminescent dynamism for cities and art collector's halls while delving into the rich histories in the regions where I install. Traveling with camera in hand I am constantly looking for subjects that could inform and fuel future video pieces. Installed in the Historic Las Vegas Plaza in Las Vegas, New Mexico "Almas de la Plaza" (2009) is an example of the kind of video art piece that I am moving towards. This piece incorporates actors shot on stage, numerous video projectors, a late 1800's Victorian building, and improvised historical narratives from the late 19th century to engage important slices of local history and share them with the local community via the conduit of public video art.

In another recent large scale video art piece, "Where Land Meets Water" 2006, I worked with historic and textural themes local to Virginia Beach, VA on the canvas of a 360 foot, thirty-two video projector permanent installation. "Where Land Meets Water" has been very well received by the city of Virginia Beach, and continues to be regularly projected at the new Convention Center (designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP).

Large site specific video works are certainly a central theme spanning my work as a video artist. I also, however, have been working regularly in the mediums of glass casting, digital photography, and interactive video and sound design for some recent projects with local New Mexico museums and gallery shows. I have found shifting scale to smaller object-oriented pieces and molding a variety of mediums to work with video and unobtrusive LCD screens can provide a level of personal intimacy that is equally as powerful as working with large screens and mass viewership. Thank you for visiting the work.