Hannah Sawtell

In her work, Sawtell considers the relationship between the surfaces of images and objects, and the multiplicity of structures that underpin them. Through a variety of media—installation, video, print, radio broadcast, sound, and performance—Sawtell renders the fluidity of digital images with spatial, physical, and temporal qualities, and critically points to their function as decoy indicators for larger and dominating systems of production, access, surplus, and consumption. Additionally alluding to the repetitive nature of contemporary production, Sawtell evokes an aesthetic of industrial design through her installations and objects. Much of her influence comes from her previous work as a DJ and in running Detroit’s Planet E Label, and she often integrates noise, rhythm, and beat as part of her video works and performances.

Hannah Sawtell was born in London in 1971, where she also lives and works. Recent solo shows include the New Museum, New York (2014) and the ICA, London (2012). Sawtell has also participated in group shows at institutions including V-A-C Foundation, Moscow (2017); Foxy Productions, New York (2014); and Wysing Arts Center, Cambridge (2014).

Text courtesy of the New Museum