Sam Stead @ Patriothall Gallery

Taking the error message – familiar to those well versed in computer programming – ‘object reference not set to an instance of an object’ as a starting point, Sam Stead looks to explore the overlap between virtual, metaphorical and real objects. Using a variety of drawing and sculptural techniques, he will get to the heart of some pressing metaphysical questions. Questions all the more inescapable in a world dominated by computer technology.

Objects designed using computer programmes will be rendered physically using wood or metal. Some artworks might undergo reproduction, using casting or printing techniques. Each stage will be a metamorphosis in a process without end.

Inspired by the architect and design theorist Christopher Alexander, who claimed that people and not architects should design their own homes, Stead will use his theories of ‘pattern language’ to form sculptural hypotheses, espousing an art practice focused on process rather than outcome.

Further bookish satisfaction will be found in the work of the computer scientists known as the Gang of Four, authours of the software engineering book Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software – some might say a classic. Using Alexander’s theories of pattern language, the Gang of Four developed a method of programming that focused on reusing existing code and seems to encourage a kind of bricolage for the computer age, considering how objects relate to one another rather than identifying the objects themselves.

Despite the tight theoretical underpinning, Stead is an applied sculptor, nonetheless. Expect to see more actual things than metaphorical musings; expect to see a variety of materials and less an assortment of esoteric code.