ATOM/PLANET (2005-present)
In ATOM/PLANET, Anne Arden McDonald explores ways to get an image onto photographic paper without using a camera or a negative. She takes her inspiration from both the dialogue of the artist with his or her material, and from scientific methods such as hypotheses and experiments. She makes partial use of well-known processes such as photograms, whereby objects are placed directly onto the photographic paper and exposed to light. But in the dark room she primarily uses an unorthodox collection of materials and techniques of domestic and scientific origin. She polishes or scrubs the photographic paper, or uses techniques to get the image onto the paper by means of evaporation. The rings, bobbles and wipe marks that appear symbolise the planets and the atoms, the macro and micro cosmos of the life that is known to us, which she manifests in this way.
