Brain Scapes

This installation forms part of a fascinating endeavour by Simon Yates to harness the contents of his mind - thoughts, feelings and memories - in the service of his artistic practice. The result is 'Brain Scapes', an abstracted, sculptural self-portrait in the form of star-like shapes suspended between ceiling and floor. Deliberately lo-fi, 'Brain Scapes' is constructed from everyday materials and is painted black - the latter hinting at extraterrestrial dark matter. The work forms a visual palimpsest of Yates' interests and influences, with an array of images and texts attached to each shape. These have been assembled following a practice he calls 'information ecology' or 'infodiversity'. One attached item is a comic book or storyboard drawn in his youth, of all that he could remember at that time. Another is a painting produced under the influence of certain recurring feelings that Yates has tried to access by listening to music - pieces that he both likes and dislikes. Details of all of these experiences and memories are included on the surface of the work: there's a reproduction of a Rolling Stones record cover and references to JRR Tolkien's novel 'The Lord of the Rings'. Yates likens his practice to that of an inventor. He has experimented with a number of different machines and models. Some of his installations have included walking robots made from balsa wood and paper, held up by helium balloons and activated via remote control.