Daksha Patel
In Pericula: At Risk 2022
HD Video with sound. 6’11
In Pericula: At Risk is the outcome of a residency at Kings College, London in Life Science. A performer is filmed inside the Life Science Museum wearing a hybrid costume created from prints of objects preserved and classified in the museum collections such as bones, corals and plants. The costume becomes a canvas for an enactment of the loss of biodiversity. A soundtrack of children reciting the names of different species currently on the red list accompanies footage of a scientist carefully labelling specimens. The animated film explores themes of separateness and inter-connection between human and more-than-human life. The film was selected for the INEFF (International Network of Experimental Filmmaking Festival), MediaCity, University of Salford Symposium in 2023.
In partnership with Kings College, London. Supported by Arts Council England.
Wateriness 1&2 2021
HD Video with sound. 2’53 and 3’25
Experimental works filmed at Yorkshire Sculpture Park merging Lidar scanning, photogrammetry footage captured by drone with video. Technical support from Invisible Flock. Lidar technologies are typically used to scan rock formations and are not designed to scan water. I wanted to push the technology to its limits and explore whether it could capture ‘wateriness’. The films were part of the Liverpool Biennial 2021 research bursary programme.
In partnership with Invisible Flock, Liverpool Biennial, a-n and Open Culture.
Active [Drawing] Matter 2019
HD Video with sound. 4’11
The video is the outcome of a residency at the University of Bristol (2019) with Dr. Silke Henkes who is researching Active Matter systems. Active Matter is the patterns of collective movement typically generated by flocks of birds, swarms of bees or the division of cells. Particles suspended within emulsions can also demonstrate active matter movements. In this work, the vibrations from speakers emitting the sound of bees swarming under a circular blackboard, propel chalks into active matter formations.
In partnership with EPSRC; University of Bristol, Applied Mathematics; Dr. Silke Henkes; Dr Jake Langham; Creative Reactions.
Exeter University Creative Fellowship 2023
HD Video with sound. 9’30 (documentary)
A documentary video produced by the Arts & Culture team at University of Exeter, with interview footage of Prof Clare Saunders, Environmental Politics at the ESI (Environmental Sustainability Institute) and Daksha Patel. The video documents Daksha’s Creative Fellowship at Exeter Penryn campus, exploring Environmental Justice. The fellowship comprised of international student workshops, trans-disciplinary staff workshops and the creation of an onsite wall drawing.
In partnership with University of Exeter.
King’s College residency 2019
HD Video with sound. 2’41 (documentary)
The video documents a residency in Anatomy and Life Science Museum at King’s College, London, where I set up an artist’s studio in the corner of the lab and created a series of paper prints from objects in the collections.
In partnership with King’s College, London
King’s College Anatomy Workshop 2020
HD Video with sound. 3’30 (documentary)
A student workshop in the anatomy labs at King’s, a collaboration with Dr Darren Williams, Reader of Developmental Neurobiology.
In partnership with King’s College, London
Misprints 2019
HD Video with sound. 7’37
Misprints was an interactive event held at Dundee Contemporary Arts in October 2019. It was the culmination of a residency at Dundee University, hosted by Prof Miratul Muqit, who is researching Parkinson’s Disease. The project process comprised of a series of patient workshops at Ninewells hospital, a staff workshop at Life Science, and the production of a large series of prints from the artist’s drawing at DCA Print. It won The Brian Cox Prize for Public Engagement with Research in 2020. Please see the video documenting the project.
Daksha Patel PhD is a multi-disciplinary artist researcher who works across a wide range of media, materials and technologies. Her inter-disciplinary practice has engaged with Biophysics, Applied Mathematics, Environmental Modelling, Linguistics and Neuroscience. Research residencies and fellowships within academic institutions such as King’s College, London, regularly inform her practice. She has an ongoing interest in scientific processes of mapping, measurement and visualisation, and has made work with Lidar scanning, photogrammetry, bio-sensors and creative coding.
