Joseph Shaeffer

Lives and works in Boulder, CO, USA

Artist statement

Studio Joseph Shaeffer is both a trans-disciplinary studio practice and a virtual repository for the ongoing, contiguous dialogue between the disciplines of contemporary art, design and the sciences. The ideas generated through this dialogue often emerge in the form of visual projects rooted in and manifest through a conceptually directed approach in which seemingly disparate ideas, materials and process serve as the facilitator to achieve the final, visual result of any particular project. Much of the resulting work in Shaeffer's practice is the direct influence of his daily surroundings and engagement with complex materials and processes while working as a technician in a physics lab. In this lab environment, failed experiments in cold atom research and underperforming optical components are often cast aside with no hope of realizing their intended purpose. With this, they are now free of their responsibility to behave as designed and become the source material within his conceptual art practice.

Artwork

• Phasing Sequence-01, 2016. LightJet Print on Fujiflex paper liquid crystal component photographed on light box under cross polarized light with variable voltage applied
• Empathetic Object 01, 2019. InkJet print on Entrada Rag Bright 290 paper
• 7 79Au 196.967, 2019. 24 Karat gold plated stainless steel, VantaBlack
• Wavelength Shift/Blend, 2015. Beam splitter cubes, color chips, powder coated aluminum housing Each cube possesses the color value of itself plus the value of each cube contiguous to its edges
• Two Circles With Chord - Polarization Phases 1-24, 2019. Acrylic on panel
• Dodec Componenticular 01, 03,04, 2016. Digital print mounted on powder-coated aluminum with automotive clear coat 123° achromats, laser cut polarizing film, photographed on light box under cross polarized light
• Encroachment Study (Variant 010), 2011. scientific glass, ecosystem (minerals, glass beads, Bromeliads), loc-line, Dolichovespula Maculata (bald faced hornet) nests, Tillandsia Bulbosa, delrin, surgical tubing
• Encroachment Study (Variant 010) Detail, 2011. scientific glass, ecosystem (minerals, glass beads, Bromeliads), loc-line, Dolichovespula Maculata (bald faced hornet) nests, Tillandsia Bulbosa, delrin, surgical tubing
• Architectonic Wavelength Study 07, 2019. Inkjet print on Entrada Rag Bright 290 paper
• Memory Specimen v1 s2 08 018, 2018. Acrylic on Yupo