An Arts Council Research and Development Grant enabled Daden to develop a new series of work based around aerial views of the landscape. Compelled to explore the topographical changes and disruption that Climate Change could cause in the future, he focused upon the aesthetics of these transformations. Moving away from using expensive cutting edge technology, and experimenting instead with hands on techniques and basic materials, resulted in smaller scale work (750mm wide by 1 metre high), exploring colour and pattern as an indication of change and subverting the tradition of communicating ideas through the medium of illuminated coloured glass.
The different compositions explore the potential impact of climate change on our familiar terrain, representing these encroachments as patterns, shapes and colours. In the design 'Fields of Plenty', natural tones of green and brown represent the fields we see from above, divided into uniform sections. ‘Heat Wave’ - a target shaped design with circles radiating out from the centre using 'warning' colours (yellow and red) - signals the heating up of land and sea. 'On The Move' conveys the idea of vast chunks of ice breaking off from melting ice sheets and dispersing into the swirling blue ocean, while 'The Approaching' indicates the inundation of the countryside by rising sea-levels, eroding arable symmetry with circular tidal patterns.
The artworks are made from clear recycled bottle glass, which has been broken up into small pieces and then set into glue, bonding all the fragments of glass together. These shapes have coloured filters fitted behind them, which are illuminated by concealed fluorescent lights to create a pure colour effect over the highly textured surface. Using delicate materials such as broken glass reflects the fragile equilibrium of the Earth’s climate, and also how creatively re-using objects offers a positive alternative to discarding them and adding to landfill pollution.
