wHY am i

Hannah Duggan, ML Kirchner

on view through December 30, 2023

FORMah’s new exhibition, “Why Am I” features artwork by Hannah Duggan and ML Slocum Kirchner. ‘Why Am I’ creates conversation between two points of view – profound impact of the digital age on one’s perception and reflection on the received information.

Hannah Duggan highlights the influence of passive consumption of internet browsing, using digital sources serve as a starting point for her work, while ML Slocum Kirchner’s photography suggests that truth may no longer be objective and facts may not be universally agreed upon.

In her current series ‘Post Internet Ceramics’, Hannah Duggan uses a blend of cutting- edge technologies that converge to transform digital imagery, text, and files into tangible sculptures and vessels. Clay becomes the medium through which she engages with digital themes, appreciating its fragile and tactile nature as a poignant contrast to the transient archive of the screen. Through this juxtaposition, Duggan draws parallels between the functionality and consistent malfunction, as well as the errors inherent in both new technology and ceramics as mediums.

In her ‘Porcelain Paper’ series, digital imagery is printed on porcelain tablets, resembling faux printer paper. The digital space is a vast archive instigating and recording both private and social behavior. Digital interfaces are relied upon for delivering essential information and facilitating social interaction. Despite being viewed as vessels of stability, digital interfaces are actually unstable. The information contained digitally is constantly shifting, updating, and refreshing. Translating digital imagery onto the static, rigid surface of clay allows the artist to mark and emboss subjective thoughts and feelings about the less accessible aspects of the digital. This materiality enables to engage with the effect technology is having on human experience in a tangible way.

ML Slocum Kirchner’s series of photographs “Reflections in a Post-Truth Era”, are reflections in buildings that take on a new and poignant meaning. As one grapple with the idea that truth may no longer be objective and facts may not be universally agreed upon, the reflections that are seen in the shiny surfaces of buildings serve as a reminder that often someone’s perception of reality is affected by their own biases and interpretations.

In a world where manufactored facts are promoted and theories are given equal weight as empirical evidence, Slocum Kirchner offers to take the time to reflect on the information presented, question the sources, the motives, and the biases involved in its presentation. The photographs suggest recognizing that our own subconscious biases may color the interpretation of presented realities.

Both artists in ‘Why Am I’ exhibition are reminding the viewer of natural curiosity, attention to details and the opportunity to remain open to new information, while questioning it’s source, motives and stability. While one navigates in the state of constant passive information consumption, wondering what are the facts, what is real, what is dictated to us by digital era, and what is our biased interpretation.

Selected Artworks

“Something Went Wrong”

Hannah Duggan

Stoneware and Airbrushed Underglaze

10 x 12 x 14 in

“Wobbley Facts”

ML Slocum Kirchner

Archival Pigment Print on Hahnemühle Cotton Rag Paper

41 x 41 in

“Low Poly Vases”

Hannah Duggan

Porcelain with Underglaze

10 x 4 x 4 in

Learn more about the artists