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Connor MacKinnon
Biography
Connor MacKinnon (MFA Candidate, University of Victoria) is a Canadian sculpture artist from London, Ontario. He received his BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and an Advanced Diploma in Fine Arts from Fanshawe College. MacKinnon’s work has been exhibited nationally with a recent solo exhibition at the TAP Centre for Creativity in London ON as part of an emerging artist residency and is currently participating in an online special project residency through In-ruins Residency 2021 linking archeology and contemporary art. Alongside his artistic practice, MacKinnon is a cultural worker with diverse experience in fine art installation, curation, archiving, and education in Nova Scotia, Ontario, British Columbia, and South Africa.
ARTWORK
Algorithmic Tools
Installation
Algorithmic Tools (2021) is the result of a digital system developed using algorithmic/parametric based 3d modeling. This algorithm is designed to construct the forms of fictional tools by passing information through different input parameters such as the location and orientation of drill chucks, batteries, switches, and triggers which are inherited from real source material. These parameters come together in combination with generational variation to construct 3d models of tool bodies which are then 3d printed and finished by hand. This work aims to examine how objects have evolved into their current states by exploring the potential multitudes and variants of future evolutions. While this technology still places general control in the realm of the artist, it allows for the work to grow beyond the defined algorithm and parameters imagined by the artist. The output is no longer simply a drill or rotary tool but speaks to the potential of new uses and applications in something resembling a collaborative process.
Link to artwork: