Campionissimo

This practice-based research project explores digital input and output technologies to create representations of landscape with historical, cultural and social narratives. The outcome is a series of exemplar digitally-crafted artefacts which have been exhibited nationally and internationally and purchased for national collections., The most significant output of this study is the digitally-designed and manufactured craft work, ‘Campionissimo’ (2009), purchased by the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh for permanent display in the museum’s metalwork collection (2009). The artefact was exhibited at ‘Silvermaker’, Contemporary Applied Arts, London (2009).

The artefact was crafted in response to experiential methods of navigating alpine landscapes by bicycle. ‘Campionissimo’ is a CNC milled aluminium bowl and, as the largest milled object the author has created, highly significant in raising practice-based research opportunities and the attendant scope for innovation.

The level of control of digital processes developed by the author in this project has enabled the development of a unique method for engaging with digitally controlled hardware which is reactive rather than passive. This method enables tacit interaction with the object in production, enabling the discovery and exploitation of creative opportunities during the manufacture of one-off pieces.