Folding (2016-2021)

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The works in this series form the central component of Howard's practice-based PhD research, Manifold. Through experimental methods of cutting, folding, installation and (re)photography, the photographic prints (as images of buildings) are treated as extensions of the 'real' space, continuing, yet modifying it. Drawing from theories of folding and baroque aesthetics, this work considers the reflexive and generative act of folding the photographic print and the tension it causes between an 'external’ point of view (…) and an "inner" point of view' (Jäger, 1986:20), two-and three-dimensionality, and virtual and actual space. These work contribute to a field of self-referential photography practice, where the materiality of the photographic print is called into question in the digital age, opening new possibilities for reading space and dimension. In addition, they also invite the viewer to critically engage with seemingly banal and mundane architectural features. The white walls of the gallery and the corners of an artist studio, for example, become spaces of 'possibility and potential transformation' (Mehrotra et al., 2005:19).