DEPOSITS
Felicity Hammond
Opening 20.09.2023
21.09.2023 > 18.11.2023
Deposits is a project by Felicity Hammond developed for Gallleriapiù in collaboration with PhMuseum on the occasion of PhMuseum Days 2023, an international photography festival taking place in Bologna, Italy, from 9/22 to 10/1/2023.
How does mineral extraction and the commercialization of natural materials affect each other? Deposits, a new project by Felicity Hammond, investigates how the processes of heavy industrialization impact our landscapes by intensifying the industry – environment conflict. The project focuses on the use and abuse of extractive materials and the impact they have on biodiversity in so-called “sacrifice zones”.
On display is a new series of digital collages that explore the relationship between data mining, mineral extraction, and the devices that enable them to meet. The images speculate on a future material, originated from the industrial waste and by-products of technological growth. Felicity Hammond employs collage technique to forge from familiar elements something “strange”, concealing and detecting, deconstructing and reconstructing, uprooting and evoking. Akin to speculative fiction, the alienating landscapes in the images on display rely on fragments of experience as a way to expose the wonderful, just as the uncanny, in our society. Hammond’s collages are installed on temporary structures, mimicking the materials of those found on a site of construction or excavation. Made specifically for the gallery space, the framework leads the viewer on a journey through upturned worlds.
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Felicity Hammond received an MA in Photography from the Royal College of Art in London in 2014 and completed her PhD in Contemporary Art Research at Kingston University, UK in 2021. Hammond’s work has been internationally recognised for her unique approach to combining photographic practice with large scale installation, and has been nominated for and received a number of awards, including the Lumen Art Prize (2018), FOAM Talent (2016), and the British Journal of Photography International Photography Award (winner, 2016). Hammond’s first institutional solo exhibition took place at C / O Berlin in 2021, and her work has been in many international group exhibitions including Centre for Visual Art Denver, CAFA Art Museum Beijing, Garage Rotterdam, Fotomuseum Winterthur, and Saatchi Gallery. Recent public projects have included a major outdoor commission for Colchester and Ipswich Museum, UK (2023) and a site-specific project for Photo Australia and the Metro Tunnel Creative Program in Melbourne (2021). Hammond’s first book, Property, was published in 2019 by Self Publish, Be Happy. She lives and works in London.
PhMuseum Days is the festival curated and organized by PhMuseum, a photography talent incubator. The third edition will take place from September 22 to October 1, 2023 at DumBO’s Spazio Bianco in Bologna and other venues around the city hosting exhibitions, talks, screenings, portfolio readings and a section dedicated to independent photography publishing. This year’s main focus is I Don’t Know How To Respond To That, a reflection on the function and consequences of technology in our lives and within society.
