neither fully self nor other is a series of cyanotype prints depicting newly discovered coral colonies in the Porcupine Bank Canyon, 320km off the coast of Ireland.

The images are based on three dimensional models generated by Dr Aaron Lim, Marine Geologist, UCC, integrating video footage with acoustic and mapping data from this biodiverse cold-water reef ecosystem.

Sunlight barely penetrates past a depth of 200 metres and perpetual darkness reigns on the(se) abyssal plains of the ocean floor. As a consequence, the digital models render images of what deep ocean life might look like if we could experience these spaces. But beyond the limited imagery taken from remotely-operated underwater vehicles, we never will.

Borrowing a nineteenth century method for copying technical drawings using sunlight, neither fully self nor other are blueprints of blueprints. Combining one of the earliest photographic techniques and the most recent forms of digital rendering, the work considers the role of our changing visual culture, technologies of reproduction and what it means to ‘see’ across an unbreachable distance.

Kindly supported by an Arts Council of Ireland Visual Arts Bursary, 2019 (round 2).