Michael Part
14 Nov 2014 - 10 Jan 2015
© Michael Part
Dead Sea Mineral Collection #01 - 2014
Silver gelatin (ammonia emulsion) on float glass and cutout for projection
33 x 26,5 cm (framed)
photo: Georg Petermichl
Dead Sea Mineral Collection #01 - 2014
Silver gelatin (ammonia emulsion) on float glass and cutout for projection
33 x 26,5 cm (framed)
photo: Georg Petermichl
MICHAEL PART
e.g., 2005 - 2014
14 November 2014 - 10 January 2015
From November 14 to January 10, 2014 Galerie Andreas Huber is showing a new work by Michael Part entitled e.g., 2005-2014.
A snapshot taken in Michael Part’s workshop: recipes, books, bottles, cups, glasses, teaspoons, droppers, chemicals, and powder, a digital scale and a hotplate over a large sink. The artist has spent the last few months producing his own photographic emulsion (silver gelatin emulsion). At first he was following historical recipes and various blogs, in which, for instance, former Kodak employees write about their experiences. In the meantime Michael Part has developed his own emulsion recipes, plus the corresponding choreographies. For not only is the chemical composition important for how the emulsion turns out, but also the way the contents are mixed together–whether they are stirred continually or just 20 seconds every five minutes, what temperature is chosen, how long the composition is left to mature, etc. The goal was to get an emulsion that works very smoothly and does not produce any hard contrasts, which are generally unsuitable for ordinary processes in a photo lab. He doesn’t apply this liquid to paper, but to glass plates.
The title of the exhibition refers to the artist’s collecting activity. The “Dead Sea Mineral Collection” started in 2005 and consists of small stones. It is an accumulation of the part of bath salts mixtures that do not dissolve in the bath water. These remains, collected over nearly 10 years, were individually photographed by Michael Part, and the resulting small negatives were exposed onto the coated glass plates.
The exhibition represents the beginning of an indexical inventory of this collection, which continues in the hanging objects. The number of glass plates results from the number of collected stones, and is distributed as pragmatically as possible over the gallery’s three rooms. In the middle room, a selection from a glass plate that can be found hanging in this room is projected as a slide. In the enlargement by the projector, we see the stone, but also the large grain of the emulsion.
This multilayered process allows Michael Part to make the object-like and unique character of photography–a central concern of his–perceptible in the form of a slide installation.
Despite the almost scientific approach, the photo-historical references, and complex steps, the understanding of which is central to grasping Michael Part’s work, the artist also appreciates the possibility of a direct approach. In an interview with Mark Rappolt in Art Review from December 2013, the artist says: "I think of it in the way in which you might approach a plate of food. You can just enjoy how it tastes, but you can also ask about the ingredients or where they came from or how the combination of just two ingredients might taste, what they are doing, or to what they refer."
e.g., 2005 - 2014
14 November 2014 - 10 January 2015
From November 14 to January 10, 2014 Galerie Andreas Huber is showing a new work by Michael Part entitled e.g., 2005-2014.
A snapshot taken in Michael Part’s workshop: recipes, books, bottles, cups, glasses, teaspoons, droppers, chemicals, and powder, a digital scale and a hotplate over a large sink. The artist has spent the last few months producing his own photographic emulsion (silver gelatin emulsion). At first he was following historical recipes and various blogs, in which, for instance, former Kodak employees write about their experiences. In the meantime Michael Part has developed his own emulsion recipes, plus the corresponding choreographies. For not only is the chemical composition important for how the emulsion turns out, but also the way the contents are mixed together–whether they are stirred continually or just 20 seconds every five minutes, what temperature is chosen, how long the composition is left to mature, etc. The goal was to get an emulsion that works very smoothly and does not produce any hard contrasts, which are generally unsuitable for ordinary processes in a photo lab. He doesn’t apply this liquid to paper, but to glass plates.
The title of the exhibition refers to the artist’s collecting activity. The “Dead Sea Mineral Collection” started in 2005 and consists of small stones. It is an accumulation of the part of bath salts mixtures that do not dissolve in the bath water. These remains, collected over nearly 10 years, were individually photographed by Michael Part, and the resulting small negatives were exposed onto the coated glass plates.
The exhibition represents the beginning of an indexical inventory of this collection, which continues in the hanging objects. The number of glass plates results from the number of collected stones, and is distributed as pragmatically as possible over the gallery’s three rooms. In the middle room, a selection from a glass plate that can be found hanging in this room is projected as a slide. In the enlargement by the projector, we see the stone, but also the large grain of the emulsion.
This multilayered process allows Michael Part to make the object-like and unique character of photography–a central concern of his–perceptible in the form of a slide installation.
Despite the almost scientific approach, the photo-historical references, and complex steps, the understanding of which is central to grasping Michael Part’s work, the artist also appreciates the possibility of a direct approach. In an interview with Mark Rappolt in Art Review from December 2013, the artist says: "I think of it in the way in which you might approach a plate of food. You can just enjoy how it tastes, but you can also ask about the ingredients or where they came from or how the combination of just two ingredients might taste, what they are doing, or to what they refer."