Michael Fullerton
John Peel 2004
courtesy Counter Gallery, London
© The artist

Free Entry

Michael Fullerton explores the transmission and reception of information in its broadest sense. His materials and methods often refer to the tools and technologies of communication, such as newsprint or analogue recording, while his subject matter relates to the institutions and individuals involved.

Fullerton’s various works appear to share little aesthetic common ground, ranging from models of the rods and cones of the human eye to portraits in the tradition of eighteenth-century English painting. But they all relate to the processes involved in the dissemination of information.

This relationship is articulated through the manifesto of inventions by chemical giants BASF presented in the exhibition. Famous for establishing analogue recording in its modern form, the company began life by pioneering the chemistry necessary for the mass production of pigment, which Fullerton views as another type of broadcasting technology.

For Fullerton, a process such as painting is comparable to a recording mechanism for which the artist claims ultimate responsibility. Once a subject has been selected a host of aesthetic choices shape the image and convey artistic intent. But Fullerton questions whether aesthetic decisions can translate into political effect. Collectively, his works reveal the mediated nature of all forms of information and the role and responsibilities of the interpreter.

Exhibition sponsored by Diesel