Thomas Jackson: Emergent Behavior

Thomas Jackson: Emergent Behavior

In his ongoing series, Emergent Behavior, artist Thomas Jackson creates suspended installations inspired by self-organizing, “emergent” systems found in nature such as schooling fish, swarming locusts, or flocking birds. Tapping into the fascination and uncanny feeling that these phenomena often evoke, Jackson’s hovering constructions utilize manufactured and mass-produced material—a stark contrast against the picturesque landscapes they inhabit. Working with a 4x5 film camera, Jackson creates large-scale photographs that meditate upon the complex relationship between the natural and the man-made, while inviting a fresh interpretation of everyday objects.   

Thomas Jackson is a San Francisco-based artist and photographer. His work has appeared in numerous publications, including The New Yorker, Harpers Magazine, Photo District News, and American Photo Magazine. Jackson has exhibited internationally at venues including the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design in Wisconsin; Art Miami in Florida; Fort Wayne Museum of Art in Indiana; La Fototeca in Guatemala City; and Angkor Photo Festival in Siem Reap, Cambodia. His work is held in numerous private and public collections including Fidelity Investments, Boston; Delta Airlines, Atlanta; Rotch Library at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge; and The Center for Photography at Woodstock, Massachusetts.

©2018 by San Francisco Airport Commission. All rights reserved.