One + One = Daniel Eatock

Everyday objects can be fascinating when taken out of their context, it's all about viewing then from a different perspective, a different reason. Photographer Daniel Eatock has taken this idea and built on it by adding another item, person, or animal to the equation. The result is a staged meeting between two objects, creating a whole new meaning to the situation and, therefore, the photograph.

The found situations are encountered in everyday life, on the street, on my way home etc. They are random finds that I document with my pocket digital camera

As a former graphic designer, Eatock displays a great understanding of how to place his photos, both in terms of location and the characters/objects in the shot. Often the mixture doesn't make sense - what's the connection? This idea of opposites is another theme running through Eatock's work. To get a chance to figure out what 1+1 really adds up to, go and check out the photographer's Stanley Picker Gallery show, opening today...

Dazed Digital: What's the story behind the name 'One + One'?
Daniel Eatock: The simplest way of making something is to add two things together.

DD: What themes do you aim to explore in the new exhibition?
Daniel Eatock: Materials, colour, form, texture, function, structure… echoes, alignments, reflections. How can unrelated things coexist, become more than the sum of their parts?

DD: How do you find/pick your locations/objects to shoot?
Daniel Eatock: The found situations are encountered in everyday life, on the street, on my way home etc. They are random finds that I document with my pocket digital camera and many of the photos are emailed to me as ‘Thank You Pictures’ for display on my website. The 1 + 1 sculptures are considered, the two objects are carefully placed together – a deck chair and an ironing-board, they share similar forms, one is associated with leisure, the other with work, both have fabric skins and an X crossed legs/structure – when place one on top of the other a nice infinite loop results. Like placing two mirrors facing each other.

DD: What are the links between these images?
Daniel Eatock: Both the found situations and 1 + 1 sculptures share a common approach to combining  or aligning disparate elements. An ice cream cone turned upside down placed on a traffic cone.

DD: How will the exhibition change over the eight week period?
Daniel Eatock: Each Wednesday I will combine different objects to create new 1 + 1 works. I aim to make about six each week. Many of the combinations have been carefully considered and drawn as diagrams in my sketch book before hand. But as I work with the objects new combination present themselves. A cocktail glass with a drain plunger placed on top of it, the diameter of the glass and drain plunger are identical, when I discovered that both objects shared a common dimension it seamed perfect to place them together.

DD: What's next?
Daniel Eatock: A book showing the combinations?

Daniel Eatock's One + One, Stanley Picker Gallery, Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture, Kingston University, Knights Park, Kingston upon Thames KT1 2QJ, February 8 - March 31, 2012