Joshua Elza Breen-Tucci
Based In: Glasgow, Scotland
Artist Bio:
Josh received an MFA from Glasgow School of Art in 2023, and a BFA in art and music - technology from CalArts in 2021. He lives and works in Glasgow, Scotland.
Solo exhibitions include Construct/Reality/Constructs (2021, Lime Gallery, Valencia California) and Swarm co-produced with Kai-Luen Liang (2019, Wave Cave, Valencia California).
Group exhibitions include Alas (2023, Florence Street Gallery, Glasgow Scotland) All in Bad
Taste (2022, New Glasgow Society, Glasgow Scotland), affection artifacts (2021, Coaxial, Los
Angeles California), Sound Pedro 2021 (2021, Los Angeles, California), afterbefore: images
and voices from hong kong (2020, Hera Gallery, Wakefield Rhode Island), and With Some
Time on your Hands (2010, Museum of Contemporary Art Denver , Denver Colorado).
Josh is the creative director and founder of Do Something Collective.
He is a 2024 K-Fest Arts Award Finalist, and a 2023 recipient of the Gilbert Bayes Sculpture
Fellowship award.
Artist Statement:
Joshua Elza Breen-Tucci (b. 1991) is an intermedia artist whose work explores ways in which human invention - from social structures to digital technology - mediates individual subjective experiences and broader understandings of lived reality. Through a practise based in the creation of machines, systems and situations, Josh is interested in interplays between control and autonomy, order and chance, which challenge passive observation and invoke precarious relationships of co-authorship with his work. Through this methodology and critical framework, Josh seeks to draw attention to phenomena and machinations of everyday life which are invisible, obscured, or otherwise overlooked. His formal interests include sound, kinetic sculpture, computing, text, painting, and printmaking; his broader creative work additionally encompasses music composition and performance, as well as art curation, poetry and prose.
Related Links：
@noisepunk3
@neuroses.the.band
@seannota.music
10 Questions with Joshua Elza Breen-Tucci
Q.1:
If you had to introduce your current practice in one paragraph, how would you describe the way you work across sound, installation, technology, and visual elements?
My installation practice is rooted in experimental technology and acoustic sound, often using programmed electronic elements to play or perform acoustic instruments, or using electronics to create visual or auditory phenomena.
Q.2:
You’ve written that your work explores “the fabric and conditions of realities (physical / metaphysical).” What kind of reality-mechanism do you most want people to notice or rethink?
I’m most interested in how human culture—everything from physical objects and built environments to political and spiritual systems—influence how we interact with our own individual and collective versions of reality.
Q.3:
Your works often feel less like static objects and more like systems that are actively happening. What role do the viewer’s body, actions, and attention play in the work?
I believe audiences are active participants in the creation of any artwork as they’re who ultimately read what it’s saying and interpret that. I like to sometimes amplify this in my work by using their interaction to activate or change the functionality of the work, for instance by physical proximity triggering a sound.
Q.4:
You studied at CalArts and later moved to Glasgow, where you developed your practice and graduated. From your personal experience, what are the biggest differences between art education in the US and the UK?
Art education in the US has a stronger focus on hard skills (i.e. metalcraft, programming, digital illustration with illustrator, etc.) through the use of electives and skill pathways. My education at calarts also focused a lot on reading groups and lectures in art and broader sociological theory. In UK, everything is much less structured so much of the education is self directed.
Q.5:
Why did you choose Glasgow in the first place? Was it the city, the school, the art scene, or more of an intuitive feeling?
I chose Glasgow mostly for the city, and secondarily because of GSA’s reputation. It was largely an intuitive feeling, but I was encouraged to move here by a former professor who had lived and made music in Glasgow before moving to California.
Q.6:
You now teach electronics and creative technology (including Arduino) at The Glasgow School of Art. What do you think “technology” means in contemporary art: a tool, a medium, or a worldview?
All of the above. I take a quite broad and anthropological view of technology to simply mean human tools, though I focus mostly on technologies developed from the industrial revolution on. In my own work, it’s the tools I work with, the medium I work through—often by creating custom tools that are then put on display—and an element of human culture I try to explore and critique our relationships to.
Q.7:
In your process, how do you balance conceptual thinking with engineering/making? Do you have a method you often return to?
My method changes from piece to piece, but broadly speaking concept always leads to function and engineering something that physically works, after which the concept is usually changed somewhat once the physical object is in front of me. To me, the mechanism is the medium, so function and concept are inextricably linked.
Q.8:
You also have a music practice (under your own name and as The Neuroses). How does making music influence your installation and spatial work—and how does it work the other way around?
There isn’t much overlap except in skills used between both creative areas, such as sound engineering, acoustics, music composition, and instrument/audio-device fabrication and design. occasionally there’s overlap in the creation/performance of experimental music that almost functions like live sound installations.
Q.9:
Your work often involves soundscape, field recording, and an interest in “invisible mechanisms.” What is a sound, phenomenon, or system you’ve been fascinated by recently, and why?
My last several pieces have been inspired by an interest in the relationship between pitched sound and rhythm, which are both products of cycles, aka repetition over a set period of time. My next work is likely going to be around exploring the translation of spatial movement into sound and will involve working with dance choreography.
Q.10:
If you had no limits of budget, technology, or space, what kind of work would you most want to make—and what experience would you want the audience to have?
I’d create very similar work to what I already make, I’d just make more of it and at more ambitious scales! More time and money would also likely mean more time to experiment in my studio with different tools and equipment which could lead to all sorts of new ideas.
