Fibre optics

Featured Artists

Abi Palmer; Rowan Riley; Natalee Decker; Funmi Lijadu

Unable to use studio space or their usual materials, many artists have found their practices shifting in recent months. Whether it’s to translate a physical practice to digital space, collaborate remotely with other creatives, or simply take the opportunity to experiment, this year has seen considerable ingenuity and adaptation. In this room, you will find some examples of the ways artists have tweaked or innovated to express themselves and reach others in a rapidly changing cultural landscape.

BSL room description video

Room Audio Introduction

  • All the worlds you'll never see
    Abi Palmer, 2021

  • In a white polaroid print frame, is an image of highly magnified textile fibres. Four loops of bright orange thread fibre are close to the camera. Surrounding these fibres are hints of pink and purple fibres with dark shadows. A small barcode sits in the bottom right corner.
  • In a white polaroid print frame, is an image of highly magnified textile fibres. White fibres cover the bottom of the image and top left corner. In the top right corner dark green and blue fibres blend into the background. A cluster of red fibres peek through to the left. A small barcode sits in the bottom right corner.
  • In a white polaroid print frame, is an image of highly magnified textile fibres. White, pink and yellow fibres fill the frame with no distinct thread. Green fibres slightly peek through from behind. A small barcode sits in the bottom right corner.
  • In a white polaroid print frame, is an image of highly magnified textile fibres. A small black hole sits at the centre of the image. It's surrounded by a swirl of white, yellow and orange fibres that expand out of the frame. Green fibres slightly peek through from behind. A small barcode sits in the bottom right corner.
  • In a white polaroid print frame, is an image of highly magnified textile fibres. Diagonally across the image is a wide stretch of white fibres, surrounded by dark green, pink and orange fibres that seep through from behind. A small barcode sits in the bottom right corner.
  • In a white polaroid print frame, is an image of highly magnified textile fibres. Across the image is a woven fabric in a white fibre. Shadows seep through holes across the image, showing the black below. In the corner, orange and pink fibres have mixed with the white. A small barcode sits in the bottom right corner.
  • In a white polaroid print frame, is an image of highly magnified textile fibres. Lilac fibres fill the image, with a tight weave near the top of the frame. Along the right hand side, deep blue and black fibres mix with the lilac weave. A small barcode sits in the bottom right corner.
  • In a white polaroid print frame, is an image of highly magnified textile fibres. A loose open weave of lilac fibres are filling the frame. Black fibres mix with these lilac fibres in the bottom right corner, where a small barcode also sits.

A Pocketful of Posies
Rowan Riley, 2021

This work is interactive! Download the Polaroid Originals app and scan Rowan’s images to experience her work in augmented reality.

  • A white plush object similar to a corner sofa sits central in the image. The background is empty and it is surrounded by clear squiggly lines and bubbles. On the sofa sits a collection of these tubes and a yellow glowing tangle of tubes. It has a purple glow underneath the sofa-object.
  • Arranged in a cross are 14 iridescent office blinds standing upright. Three large iridescent bubbles sit behind these blinds and long wavy clear tubes weave in and out of all of these objects. Smaller bubbles are also scattered around the image. In the bottom left is a darker object, almost black with multiple folds and layers. On this object sits a curled fluorescent yellow tube object. The background is empty.
  • Iridescent bubbles of varying sizes fill the landscape image. Intertwined in these are lengths of wavy clear tubes. In the right hand side of the image is a black and iridescent expanse of material that has a feathered edge.
  • An iridescent window blind is extended down the left hand side. It’s cables are bright purple. To the right is a translucent bubble, filled with squiggles and lines of varying pastel colours. These squiggles and tubes also fill the image, trailing away from the bubble. Behind these objects is an expanse of grey matter, similar to a dark cloud. The background is empty.
  • Three almost identical objects stand side by side slightly to the right of the image. Each object has four yellow cuboid bases that have purple tubes curling out of them and reaching upwards. With another yellow cube at their centre, they stand tall and have a bubble at the top of each object. The one on the left has another large bubble halfway up the tube. The background is empty.

Bubble
Natalee Decker, 2021

  • A mosaic-like collage of two images woven together in large squares. One image is a blue and white blur of wings or propellers turning in a blue sky and the other shows disrupted sections of a holiday photo of a man in swim shorts by sun loungers in a warm tropical setting.

    Lost/In Transit
    Funmi Lijadu, 2020

  • A photo collage of the lower half of a man on decking or a boardwalk, disrupted so that the legs are separate, wearing a different colour of jeans to the other, and rips seeming to appear across the rest of his body and clothing.

    Tough Times
    Funmi Lijadu, 2020