under construction :::

thought | machine

library artist residency 2024-2025

Kathryn A. Martin Library

key ::: :> === hyperlink

Your feedback is always welcome.

installation video ^↑^

silent ::: 2nd floor

51840 frames

notes ^↑^

drafts

printouts for exhibit

under construction

coming soon ... notes on circulation, memory | archives, & multi-modal publishing (new zines)

print books for display ^↑^

experiments ^↑^

These are a series of samples/experiments that can be expanded into longer single-channel or multi-channel works.

word collations ... algorithmic sound / drawings
... a series of "pop-up books"/hypermedia tests
...trees

jukebox / radio ::: ^↑^

woven recorded found sound fragments

play random sequence

play sound

jump to new track

...

weather systems .:.

installation video ^↑^

other floors

compilations from experiments above

learning to add ^↑^

a better learning machine

1 + 1 = 2

re: the ai math problem

messy desk ^↑^

work in progress

2nd floor installation center :::
thinking | making | notes | drafts ...
other small installations emanate from here

I went to an end-of-year student gathering hosted by the Philosophy department (Spring 2024). In a conversation, Professor Jeanine Weekes mentioned the value of keeping things "messy." In particular, we were talking about this era of polarity and stark contrasts. I found this a very useful naming for what what I have long thought of as an aesthetic of multi-threadedness | emergence | ambiguity | open systems | the untethered pre-verbal plane of sensory experience | synthesis ::: the physics of cognition ::: alchemical collisions | useful noise ::: things that are unbound | not-tied-down ::: things that are alive with liberatory movement & change.

Projects are always constrained by resources. These constraints can be gifts. Given our limited budget for production (but a bountiful sense of time for thinking and immersion) I narrowed my footprint to focus on a space in the bustling second floor. Karen, the facilities management person in charge of that part of the library was so generous in allowing me space to create, evolve & expand a "messy desk" near her office. I think of this space as the thought machine ::: under construction ::: a cogitation machine ::: a messy synthesis | making space. Messy thinking is what makes us human. I wanted to represent that ::: render visible an awkward, industrious attempt to read & think & write.

the desk contains artifacts | print-outs | video from digital materials listed above.
the workstation also includes archival material
from :::
previous algorithmic quilting work
&&
woven cloth noise | symptoms
::: from covid times :.:

library info ^↑^

helpful links

acknowledgments ^↑^

This project was developed during an artist residency and evolving exhibit at the Kathryn A. Martin Library (UMN Duluth) 2024-2025. I am grateful for their support.

This project had two phases. Part 1 was funded through a FY2024 Creative Individual grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. A portion of phase 2 was funded by a FY2025 grant. The 2025 grant will also fund an extension of this work into Duluth's craft district. Stay tuned for announcements of future events Fall 2025 - Spring 2026.

Kathy McTavish is a fiscal year 2024 recipient of a Creative Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

Kathy McTavish is a fiscal year 2025 recipient of a Creative Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.