In Robert Pepperell’s mid nineties exploration of posthumanism he sets out a series of statements which form what he calls The Post Human Manifesto. In a subsection of this entitled Statements on Consciousness, Humans and Philosophy, he describes the human body as having no boundaries, and presents the idea that no finite division can be drawn between the environment, the body and the brain.

“If we accept that the mind and the body cannot be absolutely separated, and that the body and the environment cannot be absolutely separated, then we are left with the apparently absurd yet logically consistent conclusion that: consciousness and the environment cannot be absolutely separated.” - Robert Pepperell, 1995

It's faintly amusing that the prefix post- fuses these ideas with contemporaneity and the future, with evolution and innovation. It may be that a key detail is missing, a recognition that our inherent entwinement with our environment is something that has already existed, was perhaps lost, and is now being regained. Here we could question whether posthumanism has an exclusive hold over this entwinement, or whether - perhaps more feasibly - it is repairing a severance caused at some point in modernity.

Evie Savini’s work draws upon a keen interest in technology and spirituality, merging the two into an abstract whole that circumvents boundaries just as the posthuman turns away from the illusion of borders between themselves and their surroundings. Her physical materials punctuate an invisible landscape made from electromagnetic fields, sound waves and other energies to which she has a particular sensitivity. Growing up around Paganism, a profound connection with the natural world informs an approach to art replete with the intuition of a mystic, one attuned to behaviours of our surroundings which we cannot see, but can feel if our perceptions are set a certain way.

This intuition is presented in Groundsystem, a work which is ostensibly an interactive sound installation using largely primitive technology to expose energetic systems concealed within our environment. Speaker drivers and copper pendulums are the primary elements, placed in dialogue with each other to translate a map of unseen territories into audible information that is perceived, and on some level understood, by the participants. Becoming cartographers of an intangible space, their explorations are reminiscent of dowsing, utilising technology to, in the words of the artist, ‘reopen our connection to magic’.

Aware of its potentially alienating esoteric nature, Groundsystem can be experienced on numerous levels, even purely for its superficial properties. As a sound producing, site specific sculpture it integrates with its location, embedding itself within the space rather than on top of it. Through creating false spaces in which the speaker components sit, Evie illustrates visually the concept of something being discovered, waiting for the curious eyes, and ears, of human beings. This accessibility highlights a democratic approach to sharing what is at its fullest a rather academic piece, influenced by the artist’s experience of free parties, and the attitude of welcoming and sharing that has characterised and been central to them for over 30 years.

“Techonology is a manifestation of human desire.” - Evie Savini, 2023

Modern human beings in the developed world live in a pulsating web of data signals, electronic interference and communication channels.These join and complexify the more ancient energy networks our ancestors existed alongside. In her work Evie not only accepts the veiled strangeness of the present, but with intuition her guide and technology her talisman, finds ways to identify the magic that rests within it.

Text By Daniel McKenzie

Link to Ground System audio