Darsha Hewitt is a Canadian artist with her main practices focusing on Sonic and Upscaled art. She primarily works electronics, sculpting and reclaiming them to create strongly political and environmental statements. Availability and experimentation seem to be key within Hewitt’s work, scavenging and reclaiming electronics – this practice seems to be intrinsically linked to Dr. Ursula Franklins theory. Hewitt talks about being heavily influenced by Dr. Ursula Franklin who suggests “that to critically examine technology, it must be looked at as a comprehensive human led practice akin to domesticity, culture or democracy.” Hewitt uses this to demystify technology so that it can be examined more comprehensively. I find this process to be inspiring – especially her sporadic and reclaiming attitude towards electronics – I feel it offers real insight to wasteful capitalistic habit.
My favourite Hewitt piece has to be “Feedback babies”. Feedback babies uses vintage fisher- price nursery monitors, when they are in proximity the devices produce a feedback uncanny to the crying of a baby. Darsha uses an “electromechanical sound apparatus that makes use of slow-moving motors to automate these transmitters in order to create nuanced feedback patterns.” I found feedback babies to be incredibly inspiring, coaxing ideas about the context between technological reliance and the antediluvial practices of parental responsibility. The constructed simulation of an artificial baby’s whine I think demonstrates a lot of Darsha’s philosophical interests. My least favourite piece was probably “Operation Manual”. Operation Manual is a photographic collage that reframes user manuals for the Trolli 35 Lawnmower – a standard lawn mowers made and used in the former German Democratic Republic. Darsha injects incredible life into these machines in her pieces – “sirens”, “Armour” and “The Watch”, but operation manual feels uninteresting in comparison.
Darsha’s work has inspired me and opened me up to another way of creating and reclaiming art. I feel her social and environmental statements are incredibly moving. I love thinking about re-valuing objects and giving them new personality and use – this is something I’m definitely going to be exploring in my own work.