Ian Laughlin, submitted artwork
Ian Laughlin
Painting, Sculpture, Video
Chichester, New York
Ian Laughlin is a multimedia eco-political artist living in New York’s Hudson Valley. Born in Christchurch New Zealand, he graduated from Ilam University with a Fine Arts Degree with Honors in Painting specializing in mono-printing techniques in small to large scale works. After graduation he was commissioned for 3 large public murals and continued exhibiting in numerous galleries and museums throughout New Zealand as well as Sydney, Australia. In 1982 he moved to NYC. There his work as a multimedia eco-artist evolved, achieving notoriety in New York City’s Lower East Side by producing large scale works from neighborhood detritus combined with lights and sound. With exposure to video through Film Video Arts, he collaborated with Susan Peehl producing videos, including Agnostic Front at CBGB’s. After becoming a resident of the Hudson Valley in 1990 Laughlin’s work has been exhibited both locally, in NYC, and throughout the US. His continued exploration of injustices and finding solutions to the many challenges facing the planet, has been a driver for an ever-expanding multi-media approach as an eco-political artist. He has worked both in ice casting and metal with his current sculptural opus making extensive use of transformation of objects utilizing their sonic properties. On these works he’s had percussionist/composer David Van Tieghem perform. The numerous videos produced of these performances have received international film festival awards.
Works
Ian Laughlin, submitted artwork
At the crossroads of extinction, humankind can absorb Earth’s intelligence, or make a devil’s bargain. Pollution and destruction of habitat on the planet is killing all forms of life; including our own. For water, air, and earth there are no sacrifice zones. As climate chaos is already here, the paradigm shift requires all to move to sustainability. People and governments that represent them must lead by setting the course. Fighting over oil to support a war machine is no path to the future. My recent work has focused on the critical protection of water sustaining all life on Earth that has been and continues to be compromised by human manufactured pollution. Numerous impurities now exist in our water from PFAS forever chemicals, micro-plastics, oil and chemicals from spills; to biological bacteria, viruses and cysts. Although some can be removed through filtration and processors, some are extremely difficult to remove, others cannot and are now in our bodies Transforming objects of industrial and domestic end use as markers of our time, the sculptures I make bring forth their inherent sonic properties as an integral element. All objects have a sonic resonance to which I bring to bear through their altered and assembled form. For these sound sculptures, that have both sonic and visual engagement, I provide mallets for the public to play. With these works over the last several years I’ve had percussionist/composer David Van Tieghem and others perform on them.
