Related studies project week #4: Project yourself and make an impression
Upon searching for various meanings of the word ‘impression’, I was drawn to this meaning: an effect of alteration. I decided to create an ephemeral land sculpture which like an impression, doesn’t last forever. I was inspired by Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty and went to the beach to create my sculpture. It took 47 min. until it completely disappeared under the tide.
Film photography is a craft that will always be around.
Related studies project week #3: Make a landscape
Rules:
When I read ‘make it romantic’, I imagined someone contemplating a landscape, as seen in the paintings of Caspar Friedrich. I decided to create this scene using avocado skins, cotton, and 2 figurines. It’s an homage to Friedrich, where his paintings encouraged the viewer to place himself in the position of the Rückenfigur, or the person seen from behind.
Wanderer above the Sea of Fog (1818), Friedrich
I’m doing research on feminist art. I stumbled on ‘The Dinner Party’ by Judy Chicago who was a feminist artist on the 70s. This installation involves triangular-shaped banquet with 39 place settings for the same number of women who’ve left their mark in history. I wonder who were the selected women. Apparently, this installation stirred a lot of controversy at the time for its use of the vaginal imagery for the place settings. I completely missed out on seeing this show when I was in Brooklyn a few years ago! Fortunately, it’s a long-term installation.
Judy Chicago (American, b. 1939). The Dinner Party, 1974–79. Ceramic, porcelain, textile, 576 x 576 in. (1463 x 1463 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Elizabeth A. Sackler Foundation, 2002.10. © Judy Chicago. Photo: © Aislinn Weidele for Polshek Partnership Architects
Tracey Moffatt
Laudanum, #1, 1998
Set of 19 images
Toned photogravure print on rag paper
76 × 57cm
Edition of 60
I went to see the exhibition ‘10 ways to look at the past’ at the Ian Potter Centre-NGV Australia. The show is about the passage of time interpreted by 10 contemporary Australian artists. What caught my eye was the Tracey Moffat’s series Laudanum, featuring 19 black-and-white framed prints. The softness of the images and the composition created a mesmerising dreamscape. I got the sense of the past and I felt like I was staring at some old found photographs. There is something mysterious, haunting, and erotic in the narrative. This series would make anyone appreciate the fine art of darkroom processes.
Related studies project week #2: Photograph the space next to you bed
Rules:
I originally wanted to have a 360 view of the room. I was inspired by the cinematography of Gaspar Noé. I decided to emphasise on a smaller part of the room and use the window reflection. The final result is more like David Hockney’s photos. I see a lot of angular forms in this room, so I attempted to recreated the square form with my bent legs.
Related studies project week#1: Match, Plastic, Stark white
Last semester, we were emulating artists’ works for our ‘related studies’ class. This semester is all about ‘problem sets’ and rules. Change is good.
I opted for an abstract composition with my materials. I used ambient light which cast 2 shadows which I really liked. I used HP5 400 film which I printed on RC paper. During the film processing, I accidentally dropped my wet film in the drying cabinet. Not fun at all. Fortunately, re-washing solved the ‘hairy’ issue.
The collaboration between Richard Burbridge and Maurizio Anzeri results in this incredible series of colourful embroidery on black and white portraits. This reminds me of my final project where I embroidered hair on a drawing.
via trendland
I went to check out Simon Fujiwara’s installation ’Phallusies’ at the Berlinische Galerie, which was hosting an exhibition space for the ‘Based in Berlin' festival. The festival is on for 6 weeks and exhibits the works of 80 emerging artists who live and work in Berlin.
There’s a bit of everything at the festival: performances, films, paintings, sculptures, drawings, photography, etc. You can borrow one of their free bikes to get to the various sites. That’s what I did and had the chance to see a bit of the city.
'Phallusies' is based on the true story of the discovery of a giant stone phallus found under the foundations of a new museum building in the Arabian desert. No one knows where the stone is and there is no record of its existence. Fujiwara commissioned the 4 British men who witnessed the stone to re-fabricate it from memory. The photo is of the final constructed phallus and it's pretty long! When you enter the dim lit exhibition space, you truly feel you've entered an archeological museum: there are tools, maps, drawings of the phallus, books, and sand. There's a video that features interviews with the British men and follows the making of the ancient phallus.
I like the artist’s way of combining history, archeology, and mystery into art.
Festival runs until July 24th 2011.
I went to C/O Berlin: International Forum for Visual Dialogues which is currently exhibiting 3 series of works by Gregory Crewdson: Fireflies (1996), Beneath the Roses (2003-2007), and Sanctuary (2010).
C/O Berlin was an old post office turned into a cultural institution dedicated to photography since 2006. It is an enormous building which has a lot of history just by looking at the floorboards and the architecture in general. Crewdson’s show occupies the top floor, where a space is allocated to each series. There are about framed 90 large-format photographs, all in colour except for the ‘Fireflies’ series. There’s a video playing an interview with Crewdson in a room at the back.
I had only seen one of Crewdson’s images in the flesh in Melbourne when the Guggenheim exhibition was on at the NGV. To see the whole series ‘Beneath the Roses’ on the wall is quite impressive. It’s my favorite series out of the three. The highly constructed images reflect the extensive planning required to complete one photo. In the hallway, there are drawings sketching out the process. I had seen videos with Crewdson at work: we’re talking about big productions here. The feeling I get with ‘Beneath the roses’ is solitude and loneliness. There is a strong narrative in the series. I’m deeply curious about the original idea from which each image was based on. There are so many interpretations that can be derived. Aesthetically, the photos are impeccable.
The other 2 series are less theatrical. ‘Fireflies’ was Crewdson’s first series done in black and white.There is something minimalist about this series where light trails left by fireflies have been captured on film. Its simplicity is beautiful. With ‘Sanctuary’, the monochromatic series is on old movie sets in Italy. The atmosphere is heavy with loneliness which is a recurring theme in Crewdson’s work, which he talks about in the interview. Overall, the 3 series work well together and are worth checking out.
Love this installation at Jack Shainman Gallery: playful and so colourful.
via jennilee:
wolfgang tillmans installing the concorde series at taschen publishing (1999)
'11 rooms' was an exhibition part of the Manchester International Festival 2011 which ended on July 17th. Eleven artists including Marina Abramovic and Simon Fujiwara (who had a piece in ‘Based in Berlin’) were asked to create a work involving the human body. It looks very interesting!
I admire the way Taryn Simon describes her projects so eloquently.
At Martin Gropius Bau is showing 2 photographers who are best known for their artistic manner in documenting what goes on around them. Being of 2 different eras, each succeeded in their own unique way to produce outstanding images. Kertész (1894-1985) has been recognised for his innovative photographic compositions and his eye for geometrical structures, shades, & silhouettes. The exhibition holds 100s of black and white framed prints of various sizes, some original publications, and a little series of coloured polaroids. Seeing Kertész’ work makes me appreciate more the work involved in black and white film photography. Is it a craft. Kertész is definitely one of my favorite black and white photographers of all times.
Concurrently showing was Daniel Schwartz’s exhibition “Snow in Samarkand: Views from the Hinterland of War’, where text and photography are harmoniously juxtaposed. The Swiss-born photographer is also an author who travelled in the war ridden areas of Afghanistan and Central Asia. The works are shown chronologically between 1995-2007. It documents both the socio-political and the history of these diverse geographical areas. The prints were all large (starting from 70x70cm) and framed. The accompanying text was framed and was sometimes right next to a photo and other times by itself on the wall. Previous knowledge of the socio-political events surrounding the areas he visited may help the viewer to fully appreciate the content of the exhibition. I didn’t read all the text as there was a lot. I prefer to read it in a book. I enjoyed Schwartz’s style which is somewhere between photojournalism and documentary with a great eye for composition.
Overall, both Kertész and Schwartz are photographers worth checking out to compare the way they documented the world in their own distinct way at different times in history.
I would love to see this exhibition of Sigmar Polke at Leo Koenig in NY. Polke was a German painter and photographer who is known for his unconventional approaches in creating art works. He revolutionised the visual art world with his use of various chemicals and techniques. The photo exhibition contains a series of photographs taken between 1964-2000 at the Capuchin catacombs of Palermo and a series of photograms produced with radioactive processes.
via contemporary art daily
Jérôme Zonder, ‘Jeu d’enfants no.1’, 2010
Wunderkammer, taken with my iPhone
At me Collectors Room is showing ‘All cannibals?’, an exhibition created in collaboration with, la maison rouge, in Paris. Dr. Jeanette Zwingenberger curated this show combining permanent collections of cabinets of curiosities (Wunderkammer), and collectors’ items of various media. Obviously, this show is not for the faint at heart. A lot of it is left to the imagination of the viewer. The show is not about man-eating ‘savages’. Zwingenberger reports that the exhibition is about “the imaginary, the subjective, the biological and social-political relation to oneself and to the other, form the perspective of ingestion”.
The show contains both contemporary and historical works. They are organised around the following themes: Wunderkammer, fairy tales, mother-child relationships, cannibalism and the sacred, and corporeality.
Some of photographers included in the show were Cindy Sherman, Pieter Hugo, Bettina Rheims, and Yasumasa Morimura. Besides photography, there is sculpture, painting, drawings, installation and video art. Next to the ticket booth, there’s also an interesting video of Patty Chang, ‘Melons (At a loss)’ (1998), who is seen spooning out her own breast, a cynical take on anorexia in society.
The show is fascinating for its diverse content on such an interesting concept. I really enjoyed it and found it very inspiring.
Alec Soth, 2008_08zL0107 (large nude), Broken Manual, archival pigment print, 2008, 177.8cm x 142.2cm
I posted a few months ago a link to Alec Soth's project & accompanying film by Laure Flammarion & Arnaud Uyttenhove, 'Somewhere to disappear’, where American men who voluntarily hid from society were photographed. I had the chance to see Soth’s photos of his project ‘Broken Manual’, currently showing at Loock Gallery in Berlin.
The prints are absolutely amazing. They were massive and all framed. Soth used a large format camera which you see him hauling around in the video. It’s interesting how these men, who retreated from society, were comfortable enough to be photographed. This probably reflect Soth’s affinities with his subject; he mentions in the film how he would like to have his own cave. Talk about the idea of escapism. This show was by far my favorite photo exhibition for its concept and quality of work. The gallery space was well lit which made me appreciate the prints even more. I liked the little room allocated to the screening of the movie. However, the room was too bright to enjoy the movie comfortbaly. Overall, ‘Broken Manual’ is a beautiful exhibition documenting the ones who decided to live on the edge.
