The Gesture as Archive: Index of a Stream

Tom Blake’s Index of a Stream is a quietly arresting exploration of gesture, perception, and the subtle mechanics of communication. Rooted in the idea that the act of pointing is one of the earliest human attempts to share attention, the exhibition constructs a thoughtful visual language around the index as both finger and sign. Blake uses this foundational gesture to question how we orient ourselves and how meaning emerges between bodies, objects, and space.

 

A suite of works etched onto silvered mirror forms the conceptual backbone of the show. In these pieces, Blake’s fine linear drawings hover delicately over reflective surfaces, inviting viewers to see themselves folded into the artwork. The mirror becomes both a medium and a metaphor—rendering the viewer a participant in the scene and emphasizing the relational nature of perception. Gesture here is not static; it becomes an encounter between viewer and image.

 

Complementing these reflective works are a series of indigo cyanotypes, whose deep blue fields and pale, diagrammatic marks evoke constellations or traces left momentarily in air. Produced through a process reliant on exposure and time, the cyanotypes reinforce Blake’s interest in the fleeting and the fragmentary. These images feel like accumulations of movement—impressions of gestures preserved in photographic chemistry.

 

Moving-image works and accompanying texts by filmmaker Tsai Ming-liang extend the exhibition’s themes into duration and narrative. Their inclusion introduces another mode of pointing—a linguistic, poetic gesture that resonates with Blake’s visual vocabulary. Together, they build a multilayered conversation about memory, attention, and the ephemeral residues of experience.

 

In Index of a Stream, repetition and restraint shape a unified body of work that rewards slow looking. Across mirrors, cyanotypes, and moving images, Blake traces the delicate line between signal and interpretation. The exhibition forms a contemplative archive of gestures—small, quiet, and yet deeply resonant—inviting viewers to reflect not only on what they see, but on how they look.