'If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, Infinite.' ~ William Blake

dub: a version of.
spectrum: the entire range.

dub spectrum is a creative system developed by artist and writer, Christopher Sharp. Initially focused on painting, he gradually found himself drawn to alternative methods of expression (notably poetry, fiction and photography), all of which drew from a dizzying array of interests spanning existentialism and early cinema to the ideas of Rudolf Otto and Carl Jung to Chinese landscape painting and Eastern philosophy to his own roots on Dartmoor (especially the connection he feels to its ancient woodland), alongside general despair towards the unending horror of the modern world, and more! Utilising a DIY ethos and aesthetic inspired by the underground music he grew up around in the '80s and '90s, dub spectrum became a means of consolidating disparate wellsprings that incorporates a pioneering spirit the way hip-hop artists like DJ Shadow sampled music and sweaty ravers dug acid house dancing into the night. Over time, his work developed into an interdisciplinary combination of text, lens-based media and physical movement. ds finds a haunting beauty in emptiness possessing some similarities to English Romanticism (Blake’s Dark Satanic Mills, in all their destruction of nature and human relationships, have since been replaced by the sinister aloofness of server farms) alongside what the Japanese refer to as 'yutori' (meaning 'spaciousness') and 'wabi-sabi' (finding elegance in the implicit qualities of transience and imperfection). Walking is a source, particularly in the woods: trees retain an enduring mythical, not to mention existential, symbolism and he is interested in how historically people have attempted to connect with the enigmatic spirit of nature through an embodied experience. He is currently working on an embodied poetry series of integrated stories that he hopes to exhibit in 2027.  Christopher continues to write poetry and fiction under a pseudonym, Percival Alexander, which began as prose pieces incorporated into paintings on plasterboard that developed into themes of despair and transformation in a dreadful world – almost as if different creative avenues access different parts of the soul. He is not entirely sure how this relationship came to be but nevertheless embraces the idea of art as resistance by way of re-enchantment. Extracts from his debut novel Adrift in Amnesia can be found here. Details of his first book of poetry The Cycle Diaries can be found here. He is currently working on his second novel – a fairy tale adventure about two lovable cats in search of a new home – and may share some posts of its development.

He has written about his dub spectrum journey here.

Contact Christopher: unityofkana(at)gmail(dot)com