Online Exhibition | Romancing the Soil by David Ian Bickley

Event Details

An Exhibition of Immersive Audio-Visual Work by David Ian Bickley

Romancing the Soil explores the deep connections between landscape, memory, and technology. This immersive audio-visual exhibition draws on mythological and spiritual traditions while using advanced digital tools to examine our relationship with the natural world.

David Ian Bickley’s work is rooted in a belief that landscape is not merely a backdrop to human activity—it is a living archive of movement, memory, and transformation. As a canvas for time, these places embody a continuous dialogue between presence and absence, between the physical trace and the invisible resonance of experience. The terrain holds not just history, but the imprint of intention and the rhythm of existence itself. Influenced by folklore and folk memory, prehistoric monuments, and the elemental power of place, his practice blends field recordings, ambient composition, symbolic imagery, and experimental film techniques to evoke “the spirit of place.”

At the same time, the work is grounded in contemporary processes. Bickley uses modular synthesisers, micrographic textures, and custom-built projection systems to create environments that are both ancient and futuristic. His concept of a “particle accelerator for the mind” reflects this duality—where myth and machine meet to uncover hidden layers of perception.

This exhibition invites viewers to reflect on the evolving relationship between humans, land, and technology. It is a journey through time and terrain, where the soil becomes a medium for both memory and transformation.