studio research

Material Action as System
Practice-based research investigating how bodily impulse relocates through material action, digital reactivation, and temporal looping

The indexes below define the operational structure: material action (A), residue reactivation (B), loop behavior (C), and bound-set types (D). These are parameters rather than individual works. Each work functions as a controlled run within this framework.

A: Point Zero — Cast Baseline Set
Closed material experiment establishing baseline conditions

A bounded experiment in which a cast surface is subjected to sequential physical actions—casting, removing, peeling, tearing, piling, and fragmenting—until discrete form breaks down into a distributed field. This set establishes the baseline material conditions from which subsequent reactivations and temporal behaviors emerge.

A1 — Apply: Physical application of material to the surface

A2 — Remove: Physical removal of material from the surface

A3 — Cut: Material incised to create controlled openings

A4 — Tear: Rupture or pulling apart of material fibers

A5 — Burn: Heat-induced alteration or damage to the material

A6 — Crush: Compression or flattening through applied pressure

A7 — Fold: Bending or creasing to create hinges or planes

A8 — Cast: Pouring material to take or hold a form

A9 — Mold: Pressing material into or shaping it around a form

A10 — Invert: Reversal of orientation or positive/negative relationship

A11 — Abrade: Wearing down the surface through friction

A12 — Isolate: Physical separation or extraction of a part from a whole

B: Residue Reactivations
Digital reactivation of material residue as still image conditions

Material residues generated are digitally reactivated through operations such as smearing, fragmenting, masking, mirroring, and distortion. Each image represents a discrete state, resolvable as a still image, in which residue is neither corrected nor stabilized but held in suspension.

B1 — Smear: Directional spread that collapses edges

B2 — Blur: Loss of focus through diffusion

B3 — Repeat: Replication of image elements without directional movement

B4 — Ghost: Faint offset duplication visible within one frame

B5 — Fragment: Discontinuous breaking into parts

B6 — Mask: Selective visibility through occlusion

B7 — Mirror: Imposed axial symmetry or doubling

B8 — Distort: Spatial warping of the image field

B9 — Crop / Reframe: Digital excision or enlargement that concentrates the image by removal of context

B10 — Chromatic Shift: Reorganization of color relations within a single frame

B11 — Noise: Interference introduced into the signal

B12 — Overlay: Multiple image states co-present

C: Loop Conditions
Temporal behaviors shaping how residue persists, erodes, or resets

Time is introduced through looping structures that shape perception including behaviors such as pulse, stall, accumulation, erosion, and reset, with the loop operating as an active condition.

C1 — Visible Reset: Perceptible return to starting state

C2 — Concealed Reset: Imperceptible return to starting state

C3 — Oscillation: Change reverses direction repeatedly within the cycle

C4 — Temporal Drag: Change is slowed or weighted through delayed transitions and extended intervals.

C5 — Continuous Modulation: Unfolds continuously without interruption or segmentation

C6 — Stepped Change: Occurs in discrete steps rather than continuously

C7 — Accumulative Density: Information builds over time

C8 — Erosion / Exhaustion: Visual information diminishes over time

C9 — Cyclic Range: Change circulates within a bounded range

C10—Progressive Replacement: One visual state is gradually replaced by another.

C11 — Near-Stasis: Change remains minimal and close to a single state

C12 — Concentrated Event: Change is concentrated within a brief interval

D: Bound-Set Types
Finite configurations of the research system

This section maps the seven bound-set types that structure the research system. Each type defines which parameters—material action (A), digital reactivation (B), and temporal behavior (C)—remain fixed and which are allowed to vary. The section demonstrates system closure and legibility through rule configurations rather than finished works.

Type 1 — Fix A + B, vary C: A1 B8 C3

Type 2 — Fix A + C, vary B: A2 B7 C12

Type 3 — Fix B + C, vary A: A4 B10 C9

Type 4 — Fix A, vary B + C: A5 B1 C2

Type 5 — Fix B, vary A + C: A7 B5 C8

Type 6 — Fix C, vary A + B: A11 B3 C6

Type 7 — Full diagonal (nothing fixed): A12 B2 C1

SELECTED set

E: Type 5 Bound Set
Visual variation within a fixed system

This section presents a Type 5 bound set in which the digital condition ghost (B) remains fixed while material action (A) and temporal behavior (C) vary. Each work runs on an infinite 47-second loop, a duration set at the edge of sustained attention before perception settles into resolution. Ghost functions as a constraint rather than an effect. By holding this condition constant, the works track how the same impulse returns, thins, misaligns, or disappears as it moves through different material and temporal states, without resolving into a stable image or narrative. Video projections contain flashing lights and motion effects.

studio research

SELECTED set

EILEEN CUBBAGE