Fog Machine presents a new body of work by artist and filmmaker Rob Lye, developed during his residency at Eltham College. The exhibition runs from 23 April -16 May 2026 in the Gerald Moore Gallery’s GF space.
The private view is on Thursday 23 April from 6 – 8pm.
At the centre of Fog Machine is a new moving-image work, AFON, filmed in the landscape surrounding the artist’s home in Wiltshire. The film focuses on the River Avon and the industrial terrain associated with the former Avon Rubber factory, a site where local geography, industrial history and personal memory intersect.
Through layered moving image and shifting atmospheres, AFON traces the residual presence of industry across the terrain. The river functions as both a physical and symbolic current, carrying traces of labour, extraction and transformation through the landscape.
The work is presented with a 7.1 spatial sound composition, allowing wind, water and distant industrial resonances to circulate through the gallery space. Sound operates as a sculptural element, extending the landscape beyond the screen and placing the viewer within a shifting field of environmental and acoustic presence.
Alongside these broader histories, the work also engages with personal grief. Landscape and weather become carriers of memory, suggesting a terrain where ecological, industrial and emotional time intersect.
Developed during Lye’s residency at Eltham College, Fog Machine continues the artist’s ongoing investigation into landscape as a site where material, memory and environment converge.
Rob Lye is a London-based artist, filmmaker and sound artist working across moving image, spatial sound, sculpture and installation. His practice explores the intersection of landscape, industry and material memory, often focusing on environments shaped by extraction and labour. Through field recording, spatial audio and film, Lye investigates how ecological, industrial and personal histories become embedded within place.
He studied Sculpture at the Royal College of Art and has exhibited, screened and performed internationally, including at Café Oto, Tate Britain, the ICA, Whitechapel Gallery and Modern Art Oxford. Lye is currently Artist-in-Residence at Eltham College and the Gerald Moore Gallery and recently received an Arts Council England DYCP grant to develop new ambisonic film work in the Arctic in spring 2026.