Phygital Palimpsest

Stefan Gant’s work, Phygital Palimpsest, translates the field archaeologists’ troweling actions into a highly complex digital drawing, supported by Dr John Pouncett, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford. The featured artwork is the result of an invitational residency from artist Simon Callery and Professor Gary Lock, University of Oxford based at an excavation of Moel-y-Gaer, north Wales (2013-18) and associated exhibition, Rhych at Oriel Plas Glyn-y-Weddw (2018), supported by the Arts Council of Wales. Gant produced numerous field drawings at the edge of the trench in direct response to the archaeologists at work. Later, these pencil drawings were digitised and incorporated with satellite mapping data (GIS) and photogrammetry gathered by the archaeologists. The resulting imagery is re-worked into a multi-layered representation of the excavation surface holding your attention and pulling you in further. Pencil is translated into pixel, retaining a trace of the hand of both artist and archaeologist.

Phygital Palimpsest was informed by a sustained encounter with the archaeological excavation and its recording methods. The work does not depict the site so much as reveal the impact of the process of excavation on contemporary landscape-based art. The resulting “phygital drawing” (physical & digital drawing, coined by Stefan Gant and Paul Reilly in 2018 confronts landscape as material rather than image.

Stefan extends his thanks to those who have supported the development of this interdisciplinary dialogue: Artist, Simon Callery; Dr John Pouncett, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford; Dr Paul Reilly, Senior Research Fellow, University of Southampton; Emeritus Professor, Gary Lock, University of Oxford; Nia Roberts, Curator, Oriel Plas Glyn-y-Weddw and Arts Council of Wales.

NOTE (July 2019): Phygital Palimpsest has been long-listed for The Lumen Prize (the global award for art and technology):

enter.lumenprize.com/longlist-2019

Sections of text above are derived from the Rhych exhibition catalogue:

Callery, S. and Gant, S. 2018. Rhych. Cardiff: Oriel Plas Glyn Y Weddw.

For the The Lumen Prize artist statement see the following:

Gant, S. 2019. Phygital Palimpsest. 18/07/19. < http://enter.lumenprize.com/node/1433 >

Stefan Gant was born in Ormskirk, Lancashire and brought up in Holywell, north Wales. He studied foundation Art and Design at Coleg Menai, Bangor, 1999; B.A. (Hons) Sculpture, Winchester School of Art 2000-2003 and M.A. Drawing, Wimbledon School of Art, London, 2004-2005. He is currently Senior Lecturer in Drawing and New Media at the University of Northampton. Selected exhibitions include: Video och Techningar, Orebro Konsthall, Orebro, Sweden, 2007; National Eisteddfod of Wales, Mold, 2007 (Award: Highly Commended); Loop Festival Barcelona, Spain, 2010; Create, Observe, Perform, Alkovi Galleria, Helsinki; Jerwood Drawing Prize (Finalist), London and UK Tour, 2007, 2010 and 2012; Secret, Royal College of Art (2005-2018)

All images reproduced here are copyright to the artist, and permission is here given to publish to Doug Bailey on www.artarchaeologies.com feature.

For more connections to Stefan and to this work check out the following:

For more on phygital drawing see the following:

Gant, S. and Reilly, P. 2018. Different expressions of the same mode: a recent dialogue between archaeological and contemporary drawing practices. Journal of Visual Art Practice 17(1): 100-120.