Digital r/p/m proposition: four virtual installations
This interactive, virtual project realises a speculative proposal made by artist Paul Cullen in 2011 to install works from his r/p/m (revolutions per minute) series around the world at sites of scientific observation of planetary and atmospheric forces. Cullen proposed situating works at five locations, including the Eise Eisinga Planetarium in Franeker, the Netherlands; the Octagon Room in the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England; Musick Memorial Radio Station on Naupata Reserve, Aotearoa; Linnaeus Garden in Uppsala, Sweden; and the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. The artist initially presented these propositions as a series of interchangeable gatefold covers wrapping the publication Paul Cullen: r/p/m, published by split/fountain in 2011.
For Digital r/p/m, the Paul Cullen Archive has drawn on the instructional notes and diagrams provided by the artist on the r/p/m publication covers to realise four virtual installations: PLANETARIUM, OCTAGON ROOM, MUSICK and LINNAEUS. Using LiDAR and photogrammetry, the archive has created 3D models of artworks in Cullen's former studio and collaborated with offshore creatives to realise scans of international locations. These elements congregate in the open-source platform Mozilla Hubs.
Visit individual r/p/m proposition pages below for more information, including the artist's concept and drawings, documentation of the virtual installations and Mozilla Hubs room links:
Proposition #1: Planetarium
An installation for the Eise Eisinga Planetarium, Franeker, the Netherlands.
Proposition #2: Octagon Room
An installation for the Octagon Room at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, England.
Proposition #3: Musick
An installation in Musick Point Memorial Radio Station on Naupata Reserve / Musick Point.
Proposition #4: Linnaeus
An installation for the Linnaeus Garden, Uppsala, Sweden.
About Paul Cullen
Paul Cullen (1949–2017) studied various disciplines, all of which informed his artistic practice and methodology. He graduated from the University of Auckland with a Bachelor of Science in 1971, a Diploma of Fine Arts (Hons) in 1975, a Master of Arts in 2000 and a PhD in Fine Arts in 2007. Cullen was a sculptor and installation artist. His celebrated career has seen his work exhibited nationally and internationally and he was the recipient of several awards and residencies including: Mot et Chandon Artist Fellowship, France (1996) and a Senior Fulbright Award at Auburn University, Alabama (2012).
Cullen's career spanned 40 years and he exhibited across Australasia. In the last two decades of his career he pursued exhibition and itinerant projects in numerous international centres including Manchester, London, Halifax, Stockholm, Sydney, Melbourne, Seoul, Chung-Buk, São Paolo, Cheongu, Alabama, Los Angeles, Marfa, Munich and Berlin.
About Paul Cullen Archive
Paul Cullen Archive was established in 2017 to continue an archival process of artworks started by the artist in 2016. The archive also explores alternative archival modes to generate explorative methods and categories for structuring content, including the creation of 3D models of artworks and speculative publications.