Exploring machine work as a fine art craft through the lens of Chris Bathgate’s pioneering sculpture practice.

PRESS RELEASE

October 01, 2024

The Phase Gallery at Moonlighter FabLab in Miami Beach announces BATHGATE: The Machinist Sculptor, a special exhibition debuting during Miami Art Week and Art Basel Miami, and will remain on view through May 31st, 2025. 

Visitors to the exhibition will view a selection of Bathgate’s machined metal works made as part of a formalistic and conceptual investigation of modern, computer numerically controlled machining as a creative medium. The entire body of work serves as an ongoing investigation into this concept, where each piece informs the next in a continuous cycle of ideation, problem-solving, fabrication, analysis, and revision. His aesthetic considerations are deeply intertwined with the very machines he employs, leading to a symbiotic relationship where the machinery itself evolves alongside his sculptures.

Playing with the tension between aesthetic and utility, form and function, industrial and handmade, Bathgate’s work challenges traditional categorizations. His sculptures are meticulously engineered, with every detail methodically designed from the ground up. Yet, they transcend mere technical prowess, evoking a sense of creative logic that captivates viewers. 

“Modern manufacturing has created a space where there are a great number of craftsmen practicing a way of working that no longer has a place in a modern factory. There is room now to explore these machines and techniques for what other purposes they might serve. We can now mine them for their worth as a means of personal expression.”

– Christopher Bathgate

Christopher Bathgate explains further, “By all rights, Machining should have been embraced by artists long ago. During the 20th century, many industrial crafts were developed into studio art mediums. Because of a quirk of history however, the crafts movement would reject many forms of automation. Seen as inexpressive, expensive, and inaccessible, Machine tools would be largely relegated to their industrial role until the early 2000’s. With the rise of the Maker movement and a boom in accessible digital fabrication technologies, many artists began to see the potential for expression within the highly technical machine trades. This exhibition serves as a contemporary reflection on the modern state of craft.”

“Chris Bathgate’s work exemplifies the possibilities of when creativity and access combine. The promise of personal manufacturing and digital fabrication is that it enables new forms of creativity much like previous creative movements that have been shaped by the technology of their era. Bathgate is setting the standard for aspiring creatives who find themselves in a fabrication lab for the first time, imagining all of the possibilities, and allowing themselves the grace to learn through the process – embracing these tools to create amazing new work. We hope that his work will inspire more local makers to follow their passion, too.”

–Tom Pupo, Executive Director of Moonlighter FabLab

The public is invited to attend the gallery opening and meet the artist during Miami Art Week. Learn more at https://moonlighterfablab.org/phase-gallery/

About Christopher Bathgate

Chris Bathgate is a self-taught machinist and machine builder. He has spent over two decades building and modifying a variety of metalworking tools and automated machinery to create intricately machined metal sculptures that defy easy classification. Through his work, the artist has attempted to coin the term “studio machining” as an emerging field within the fine arts. His works are fundamentally engineered, every detail methodically designed from the ground up. They illustrate that creativity alone does not drive human imagination, but that inspiration comes from the need to overcome technical challenges. By combining the math and logistics of modern machine work with an emotive problem-solving ethic, the artist bends the physical constraints of his medium to an aesthetic that plays on ideas of utility and ambiguous design intent. The result is precise and other worldly art objects that exude a creative logic all their own. Chris is author of the book “The Machinist Sculptor: Industry Meets Craft,” which explores the history of Machine work and its evolving status as a fine art craft, through the lens of his pioneering sculpture practice. It serves as a contemporary reflection on the modern state of craft, and a historical corrective to the technological dogmas that emerged during the studio craft movements of the 20th century. 

Bathgate’s work has been exhibited at the Fuller Craft Museum, National Museum of Industrial History, MECM, and more. Learn more at www.chrisbathgate.com

About Phase Gallery at Moonlighter FabLab

PHASE Gallery features work that blends technology and art in new innovative mediums. Creators that work in the realms of both bits and atoms – the Digital and Physical. PHASE Gallery celebrates the process and technical craft of artists, designers, and engineers creating on the cutting edge and making an impact in their communities.

The gallery is located within Moonlighter FabLab – a 501(c)3 non-profit S.T.E.A.M. Learning Center and Fabrication Laboratory in partnership with The City of Miami Beach, Florida dedicated to empowering makers of all ages and abilities with the skills, tools, and opportunities to shape a better future. Learn more at www.moonlighterfablab.org

MEDIA CONTACT:

Tom Pupo

Moonlighter FabLab

1661 Pennsylvania Avenue

Miami Beach, Fl. 33139

305-699-2041

admin@moonlighterfablab.org