"To index is to fix, to point out, to sort, to organize, to categorize into meaning. The index signifies, it indicates, it declares. The pointing of the index finger is a milestone in early child development, a primal communicative signal. When a child points she directs the gaze of her parent to an object of interest and she comes into a language community through this social gesture. Tom Blake’s indexing is an offering, a distillation of subtle events drawn out of the close and careful observation of his surround." - Sarah Robayo Sheridan, Assistant Professor, Visual Art at the University of Toronto.
index of a stream presents new de-silvered mirrors and cyanotypes alongside a series of looping videos developed during an 8-week residency at Treasure Hill Artist Village (Taipei), as part of PICA’s International Studio Residency Program. These works are accompanied by new poems from acclaimed filmmaker Tsai Ming-liang, written in direct response to Tom’s video pieces.
Together, index of a stream forms a compelling body of work that continues to deepen the artist's engagement with themes of fragmentation, repetition, opacity and the function of notational gestures within architectural and choreographic frameworks.
