Incantations upon a barren prairie

Mitch Patrick
December 11, 2021 - January 15, 2022

Take it Easy will host Incantations upon a barren prairie as part of our digital programming within HEADSPACE.

“A series of one minute animations that are set in a world where vegetation can cast incantations of protection in order to thrive in a desolate world. Loosely inspired by RPG video games that often display particle effects when human players cast spells, I wanted to appropriate that visual aesthetic and turn it into an environmental fiction; thus giving plants a means of “buffing” themselves when under threat. These spells, which are scrawled out in English, could also be read as mantras that are invoked to stave off human activity. Looking back on this recently completed series I think of Sue Burke’s recent novel Semiosis (2018), where interplanetary colonists slowly learn how to communicate with a hostile plant species in order to cohabitate on a new world.” - Mitch Patrick

Mitch’s studio practice incorporates a range of media: video, animation, 3d printing, and drawing processes. Much of these practices look at the function and representation of pixels in digital images through the use of asemic glyphs and typography. His 3d printing practice rigorously investigates the bildpunkt, a German photographic term meaning "picture point" and explores its recent history (as a pixel) through current cosmological research programs. His looping videos and performance work exhibit digitally constructed tableaux detailing the peculiar interactions between humans, screens, pixels, and the ecosystem. Mitch holds a BFA from the University of Montevallo (2007), and a MFA from Brooklyn College (2013). (b. 1985, McDonough, GA. Lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.)

mitchpatrick.com