Richard Lee

“...so do I feel guilty for destroying paintings, works of art?...”

Chemist Richard Lee explores the physical and chemical properties of art using the scientific method. Using local hidden variables, he pushes the boundary of media and substrates. Through his accidental discoveries, Richard looks to the realism of the accident for spiritual meaning.

Lee’s specific area of interest lies in the cognition of aesthetic value, and the nature of aesthetics itself. He is searching for a scientific explanation of what it means to look at something and like it. By attempting to destroy a work of art, he explores the possibility of removing the “aura” from a painting.

“Once you take away what people think is why they like something ... brush strokes, colour, it lacks something. Because it lacks something they have a frame of reference. So when you occlude an image with black vs white, does it really matter? I only care if it matters if it matters to other people.”

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