Alexander Gutke / Michael Snow / Josh Brand / Marieta Chirulescu
La preuve concrète
14 Nov 2010 - 31 Jan 2011
ALEXANDER GUTKE, MICHAEL SNOW, JOSH BRAND, MARIETA CHIRULESCU
La preuve concrète
14 November 2010 - 31 January 2011
Curator : Bettina Klein
In the wake of digital imaging techniques, and the profound sense of uncertainty they have caused in terms of the factuality of that which we see, Roland Barthes’s notion of “this-has-been” has indeed come under increasing strain.
In a time where technical imagery is becoming ever more precise, it is therefore surprising to see that a number of young artists are once again turning their attention to a series of techniques from the days of analogue photography. But rather than using these seemingly obsolete media for their nostalgic patina, the work of these artists deals with the representation of materials and processes, and hence, with photography as such. Narration here gives way to traces to be recorded, imprints or accumulations of indices – signs of something which “has been”, even if it was merely a material or a ray of light.
The photographic work of Marieta Chirulescu uses found imagery. Illustrations from the former Romanian art magazine Arte, private photographs or anonymous pictures were scanned and digitally manipulated by applying various layers of filters and effects or by retaining only fragments of the original representation. Certain motifs, which appear to represent actual objects, were in fact created digitally, while others are the result of handcrafted and re-photographed collages. Chirulescu’s complex image-finding processes, which combine analogue and digital technologies, produce images of unsettling depth. They materialise light itself (and its paths), for instance when a mirror is scanned and the technological device thus reaches its limits. A state at the brink of figuration, where things cannot yet be named, the reproduction of the surface structure of a sheet of paper: it is the make that induces the particular appeal of these apparently nostalgic yet hypermodern recordings. Chirulescu’s work thus addresses conceptual issues common to both photography and painting.
Alexander Gutke’s Camera (2008) is a model of Thomas Edison’s 1893 film studio, which was jokingly called “Black Maria” (derived from the nickname for the infamous black police wagons of the time). The original building, of which only a few photographs remain, was built from wood. Its roof featured an opening and the entire construction was set on rails in order to follow the path of the sunlight. Gutke’s steel model replica is covered in photographic emulsion. By capturing the light in the room, its surface records potential images which never materialise.
For his video animation Cine-scope (2008), Gutke scanned a film strip. Dust and scratches are the only identifiable elements on the otherwise plain film material. In Gutke’s work, these traces – which in any narrative-based film would distract the viewer from the cinematographic illusion – produce a trance-like effect. The superimposition of several layers and the enlargement of the visible particles suggest a spatial depth comparable to that which one experiences when riding through a forest landscape. By linking the analogue source to its digital representation, Cine-scope induces a vertiginous self-reflection of the medium.
The stylistic features of Josh Brand’s small-format photographs are reminiscent of experimental camera-less photography from the early 20th century. Brand exposes photographic paper to various analogue processes. Chance plays a decisive role in the production of his works, for instance when he lays out sheets of photographic paper in his apartment, partly covering them up and exposing them to both artificial and natural light over the course of several days. Drawings on the surface of the paper as well as various colour printing techniques expand the pictorial means of Brand’s work beyond those of the classic photogram. Rather than representing a purported reality beyond the picture, these unique photographs constitute autonomous artistic objects made from photographic material.
Michael Snow’s Slidelength (1969-1971) comprises 80 slides projected in intervals of 15 seconds. Among others, the pictures recurrently show a hand holding colour filters and a shard of glass, but also prints of stills from the film Wavelength (1967) into the frame of the image. The light of the projector lamp is partly reflected by these various surfaces. On both the represented and the actual wall in the exhibition space, it creates colour fields when falling on transparent materials. Slidelength simultaneously shows its various sources (technical devices, light, film strips) and the result that was produced using them.
La preuve concrète
14 November 2010 - 31 January 2011
Curator : Bettina Klein
In the wake of digital imaging techniques, and the profound sense of uncertainty they have caused in terms of the factuality of that which we see, Roland Barthes’s notion of “this-has-been” has indeed come under increasing strain.
In a time where technical imagery is becoming ever more precise, it is therefore surprising to see that a number of young artists are once again turning their attention to a series of techniques from the days of analogue photography. But rather than using these seemingly obsolete media for their nostalgic patina, the work of these artists deals with the representation of materials and processes, and hence, with photography as such. Narration here gives way to traces to be recorded, imprints or accumulations of indices – signs of something which “has been”, even if it was merely a material or a ray of light.
The photographic work of Marieta Chirulescu uses found imagery. Illustrations from the former Romanian art magazine Arte, private photographs or anonymous pictures were scanned and digitally manipulated by applying various layers of filters and effects or by retaining only fragments of the original representation. Certain motifs, which appear to represent actual objects, were in fact created digitally, while others are the result of handcrafted and re-photographed collages. Chirulescu’s complex image-finding processes, which combine analogue and digital technologies, produce images of unsettling depth. They materialise light itself (and its paths), for instance when a mirror is scanned and the technological device thus reaches its limits. A state at the brink of figuration, where things cannot yet be named, the reproduction of the surface structure of a sheet of paper: it is the make that induces the particular appeal of these apparently nostalgic yet hypermodern recordings. Chirulescu’s work thus addresses conceptual issues common to both photography and painting.
Alexander Gutke’s Camera (2008) is a model of Thomas Edison’s 1893 film studio, which was jokingly called “Black Maria” (derived from the nickname for the infamous black police wagons of the time). The original building, of which only a few photographs remain, was built from wood. Its roof featured an opening and the entire construction was set on rails in order to follow the path of the sunlight. Gutke’s steel model replica is covered in photographic emulsion. By capturing the light in the room, its surface records potential images which never materialise.
For his video animation Cine-scope (2008), Gutke scanned a film strip. Dust and scratches are the only identifiable elements on the otherwise plain film material. In Gutke’s work, these traces – which in any narrative-based film would distract the viewer from the cinematographic illusion – produce a trance-like effect. The superimposition of several layers and the enlargement of the visible particles suggest a spatial depth comparable to that which one experiences when riding through a forest landscape. By linking the analogue source to its digital representation, Cine-scope induces a vertiginous self-reflection of the medium.
The stylistic features of Josh Brand’s small-format photographs are reminiscent of experimental camera-less photography from the early 20th century. Brand exposes photographic paper to various analogue processes. Chance plays a decisive role in the production of his works, for instance when he lays out sheets of photographic paper in his apartment, partly covering them up and exposing them to both artificial and natural light over the course of several days. Drawings on the surface of the paper as well as various colour printing techniques expand the pictorial means of Brand’s work beyond those of the classic photogram. Rather than representing a purported reality beyond the picture, these unique photographs constitute autonomous artistic objects made from photographic material.
Michael Snow’s Slidelength (1969-1971) comprises 80 slides projected in intervals of 15 seconds. Among others, the pictures recurrently show a hand holding colour filters and a shard of glass, but also prints of stills from the film Wavelength (1967) into the frame of the image. The light of the projector lamp is partly reflected by these various surfaces. On both the represented and the actual wall in the exhibition space, it creates colour fields when falling on transparent materials. Slidelength simultaneously shows its various sources (technical devices, light, film strips) and the result that was produced using them.