Artist Statement: Bob Catterall 6/01/2013

As a model maker with a strong interest in exhibiting and curating, I enjoy working within the gallery at every level and find great satisfaction from not only achieving my own goals, but helping others achieve theirs too. Preparing, fabricating, installing and curating are fundamental practices to both creating a model, and setting up an exhibition. The similarities between these two aspects of my practice have lead me to design work with the intention of exploring the psychological interactions of the viewer and a piece of art. Cognitive dissonance is a psychological response in which a subjects understanding of something comes into question based upon a new experience and has become my main point of focus. Festinger explains in A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance that once such a response is triggered, the subject must come to a new understanding to be sure of his thoughts once more. Cognitive Dissonance exist in many forms, including the concept of the uncanny, which plays an integral role in my work. The uncanny is a kind of dissonance that applies to the realm of the aesthetic in particular; Jentsch wrote about a response to the novel, while Freud elaborated on this, suggesting that it is the sensation of being unnerved by something familiar. Both authors works are equally as important to my practice.

By creating scale models and exploring them through studio photography - using lighting, smoke effects and props like gobos, which are filters for lights that cast silhouettes - I try to create digital images that may initially create an illusion, only to later shatter it under closer inspection and disillusion the viewer. The models are constructed from a varied range of materials, both bought, made and reclaimed and I try to use materials which resemble reality. This has lead me to constantly considering the similarities of different objects despite their difference in scale. In offering this flawed truth to the viewer, I intend to create a moment of cognitive dissonance perhaps allowing the viewer to be influenced by the subject matter of the work. I usually try to increase the chances of creating this sensation for those who may not notice that the images are of models by exhibiting the miniatures and digital prints as a series, installing them in a manner that the photography will most likely be seen prior to the model. This also helps to exaggerate the sensation for those who do notice the flaws in the imagery as well, perhaps leading to longer periods of dissonance.

The designs of my models reflect my interests in the world around me; scientific progress, the environment, politics, war and social unrest. My research methods are broad, incorporating all forms of media and the work of other artists, as well as my research into psychology. These interests make up my taste in literature and films, which has lead me to the use of narratives. Initially I used these narratives to explain away my own cognitive dissonance created by criticism of my work, but they have become intrinsic to my creation process; they are the prototypes that provide the blueprints for models I create. While I build a model I repeatedly consider the story that designed it, allowing the idea and the process of creation to prompt the development of each other. This process often dictates the direction of my continued research as well, by underlining flaws in my own understanding of my interests and creating cognitive dissonances within me, which if I can't comprehend in reality, I will simply create a fiction to explain. This process has also opened continued lines of enquiry into authorship and authenticity, with a focus on how these ideas can be interact with the work and the viewer to emphasise either the triggers for dissonance, or the possible conclusions I might like this dissonance to lead the viewer to.

There is also an underlying theme of locality and I enjoy giving back to the local creative community. By participating in, volunteering for and organising events I try to show my enthusiasm for other artists projects, and I would like to start creating opportunities for people too. Last year, 2012, was a very productive year. I have continued helping Bad Edit with some of their events, and they now have their own gallery space in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent. In June I was invited to my first selected exhibition outside of university, as a part of the Staffordshire Fringe Festival. This was a great first step into the world of exhibiting work and it was followed in September by my first opportunity to curate an exhibition. As a part of Stoke-on-Trent's Conjunction festival of art, I was invited to curate an exhibition of fellow Staffordshire University students. The them was The Art of Survival and though this provided plenty of inspiration, it made the process of selecting four artists an interesting challenge.

Curating my first exhibition, Elements Of Transition, has motivated me to continue trying to set up small exhibitions on tight budgets and I have already started organising my next event. The experience of exhibiting my work at Fringe 2012 has helped me to realise that there is a very definite niche for model making within contemporary art and that only a few artists really explore it, the most pertinent to me being Edwin Zwakman, Mariele Neudecker and Thomas Demand. This has motivated me to consider not only pursuing a future in curating, but one in exhibiting my work too. I am currently working on a model that I have some very big ideas for and this has opened a new line of enquiry towards minimalist sculptures, particularly the geometric work of Donald Judd. I am considering the idea of communist utopias in a world of disconnected communities, and the power and dominance of geometry and the uniform functionality of communist housing blocks. I am also interested in the idea of introducing myself into this piece of work in the form of a dictator, an idea relating to my study of authorship. Finally I would like to use start implementing the video and sound work that I have been practising, as I am finally starting to get results that I am satisfied with.