WEATHERSOUNDS
Breath, when exhaled in the form of words or quiet air, forms climate and atmosphere. Writing about the Storm Cloud of the 19th Century, English art critic, John Ruskin speaks of climate change in terms of blasphemy and the Franco Prussian War. In this new body of work, these ideas are brought into a contemporary context by exploring an atmosphere that is manufactured not by carbon dioxide, but in terms of dialogue. The works are portraits of the Anthropocene, an altogether new term used by scientists to describe an age where humankind is the agent of weather and creator of environment. This series of cloud and sky studies explores weather history and the notion of a contemporary sublime.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
ALEXANDER JAMES is an artist in Photography and Video. In 2008 he published a book titled The Twilight of Mr Kemp – Landscapes 1797 – 1897 which attached historical narratives to the Australian landscape. Currently completing his Masters at the University of Sydney he has recently returned from a residency at the Cite Internationale des Arts in Paris, where he photographed clouds and filmed people making weather sounds. He lives and works in Sydney and is represented by James Dorahy.