Visiting Artist Exposes His Work at Alfred

Geoffrey Mann visited Harder Hall on September 2. Mann, a resident of Scotland, designs a wide array of practical items in a revolutionary fashion. Mann showed students pieces from his “Song Exposure” and “Natural Occurrence” series, and shared how his works are made.

Mann’s technique for achieving his pieces’ form begins with taking photographs of short moments in time with long exposures. He then updates the design of a traditional piece by manipulating the photo with a computer program and changing its surface pattern based upon reflection, sounds, and movement in nature.

Though this design process is indeed innovative and a step up from the predictability and status quo of everyday chairs, spoons, cups, and vases, Mann does not consider himself a technology whiz by any means; one student in the audience asked Mann how well he had to know the computer programs he uses in order to create his pieces. Mann admitted, “I really don’t know the computer programs I use that in-depth.” Throughout the presentation, he also stressed that true creativity lies within a creator’s imagination and cannot be found or achieved in computers alone. Mann reiterated, “Technology does not make a good object. It only enables it.”
You can learn more about Geoffrey Mann at: www.mrmann.co.uk