Jamie Hamilton
Incompleteness Theorem
September 11 – October 10, 2015
Artist’s Reception: Friday, September 11, 5-7 pm, at new location, 558 Canyon Road
Santa Fe, NM – Jamie Hamilton’s first solo exhibition at Chiaroscuro will feature approximately eight new mixed media pieces which illuminate his recent investigations in sculpture. Known for his large scale dynamic sculpture and his related work as an Aerialist, this solo exhibition seeks to distill “large scale concepts” into small scale sculpture. Using steel, glass, and super magnets as his predominate materials, Hamilton engages with issues of micro and macro physics to create this body of work. Form, structure, gravity, kinetic energy, light and space, all work together creating a fascinating drama of elements. Furthermore, Kurt Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorem also functions as a guiding inspiration to the work.
Hamilton explains:
Over the past three years I have worked on a monumental land art performance project involving high wire walking, design, building, and physical training. The sculptures I have worked on concurrently relate directly to this project. An exploration of possibility and structure has always been a staple in my work, but it becomes much more serious when building aerial structures upon which my life depends. I take a stance of total responsibility when I become engineer designer, fabricator and performer. I must face the fact that I am fallible and that misconceptions on my part can be costly. The work can be summed up as an experiment in possibility, the construction of a bridge connecting idea and intention to action and creation. Kurt Gödel, the influential mathematician and logician, described the impossibility of grasping the absolute, of perfectly bridging the apparent chasm between mind and matter. In his famous Incompleteness Theorems, he stated that we can either generate a theory which is consistent but incomplete, or a theory which is complete but contains contradictions. When life confronts us with a decision, given Gödel’s insight into the limits of our ability to “know,” how do we proceed? We experience the double bind of knowing that any decision which is without loss does not account for possibility and one which accounts for possibility intrinsically leads to confusion. For my show at Chiaroscuro I will explore forms and ideas which reflect Gödel’s insight. Using mirrors, steel, and magnets to explore the interaction of invisible force with tangible material, I will investigate the confusion which arises from a mind that believes itself separate from experiential phenomena.
Jamie Hamilton is based in New Mexico, and has been represented by Chiaroscuro since April 2014. This is his first solo exhibition with Chiaroscuro. He was recently awarded his Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree through the acclaimed Transart program based in Berlin and New York. The course of study involved intensive studio work in NM and traveling to New York and Berlin to present and exhibit the artwork. Recent solo museum exhibitions include, Arrhythmic Visions, presented at Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Fe, NM in 2012.