‘Pouring spoons’ Metal and glass 2003
‘My work is about an alternative way of assimilating our experience of responding to the world around us. It is about our interface and place in the world that is ever changing.’
Anne’s current working practice originates from her biological science background and initial object based practice. Frustrated by the restraints of objectivity in the science world and feeling the futility of trying to achieve a solid lasting object in a world where neither physical presence or thought, stands still, her work has seen a gradual shift into lens based media.
Studying for an MA in the glass dept at the Royal College of Art(2003), she realised the most exciting and relevant parts of the glass object were in the fluidity of the molten material and the human moments of hesitancy and decision making. Great moments were being ignored in pursuit of the finished object. ‘I started to make the least object objects I could and it inevitably led me into the photography and film departments.’
A pivotal point in Anne’s practice came in 2006 when she was selected for the Artists and Writers fellowship in Antarctica. Living for 3 months with the British Antarctic Survey scientists and support staff, in an extreme and sensory overwhelming environment, where every human mark made seemed garish and misplaced, her work became more minimalist, a quiet observance of the way in which we interact with the world.
While living with the scientists she was aware of the frantic rush to collect ‘data’ before the Antarctic summer ran out. The definition, ownership and archival storage of ‘valid data’ have become an important part of her work. The data brought back from Antarctica didn’t relate to the human emotions and the intense feelings evoked by the extraordinary environment and she made her own ‘data collections’, one of which is a 90kg block of Antarctic glacial ice she carved out and transported back to a freezer in the British Antarctic Headquarters in Cambridge. The ice sits quietly, unused, untested, amidst the ice destined for scientific analysis.
Anne explores the world around her, whether that is the remote wilderness of Antarctica, the pool of dead insects found lying in her basement studio, or the biotechnical world of pathogenesis, quietly subverting the usual confines of scientific practice.
‘The alchemical possibility of being able to turn something dull and undervalued into something shiny and significant seems to drive forward Brodie’s diverse practice. Brodie utilizes photography’s ability to transform by playing with scale and cropping in a theatrical way until we are no longer sure of the boundaries of the world in which she is operating. Photography can democratise the image, reconciling the unfairness of life by making the unloved things beautiful. Through the transformation of her base materials Brodie allows us to see what the world could be if we let it.’
Amanda Loomes, Next Level magazine H20 edition 2008
'Are you listening?' wax and plastic 2008
