Joe Moss - Not Hollows

At the center of this new sculptural installation, a group of palm-sized, tethered drones in an indeterminate state of hovering, exist in a suspended moment of encounter between semi-autonomous systems and speculative imaginaries. We are not accustomed to being so close to drones. To some degree, we might feel like we already understand drones. On the one hand, through operational networks and systems of control, some deliver goods or deliver death, while another understanding grasps them through increasingly speculative fictions and theories alike, even already imagining them as fully conscious entities. ‘Not Hollows’ uses the gallery to carve out a duration, one of extended suspension, that sits in the unstable space between those two ideas, the uncertain territory where these technologies currently exist. We ascribe something to the drone, something that comes from us, that they may or may not have, and that is very complicated. Over time, that space will only become more complicated. Using techniques of assemblage, Joe Moss (b.1991) creates sculpture, video and events where competing fictions collapse into one another. Informed by networked culture, Moss’ work situates the viewer within thin fictional structures to be recognised and read as material. By skirting and exposing the edges, Moss reveals structures of artifice through moments of contrast or revelation. Moss’ work considers the increasing pace, overlap and repetition in our everyday encounters with fiction. Moss graduated from the Slade Media MFA in June 2024 and was selected for New Contemporaries in 2023. Moss’ work has been shown at Matts Gallery, Henry Moore Institute, Camden Arts Centre, NN Contemporary, the ICA, Well Projects, Giant Gallery, and Marytwo Switzerland. Between 2019–2022 Joe Moss was part of the Conditions Studio programme.