© Stella Bach, Untitled, from the project Meditations in an Emergency. © Stella Bach, Untitled, from the project Meditations in an Emergency. © Stella Bach, Untitled, from the project Meditations in an Emergency. © Stella Bach, Untitled, from the project … Continue reading Stella Bach: ‘Meditations in an emergency’
© Ana Teresa Barboza, Untitled (?). Images via ArtNau. A friend called my attention to Ana Teresa Barboza‘s work (Lima, Peru, 1981). A good friend, I should say, for she knows how I’m drawn to mixed techniques applied to photography, specially … Continue reading ≡ My two passions ≡
© Sandro Ferreira, Não lhe digas para onde vais amanhã (Don’t tell her where you’ll be tomorrow), from the project “6174” Set of a hundred booklets, with dimensions identical to those with speeches of some dignitaries of the Portuguese dictatorial regime: “Estado Novo”. © Sandro Ferreira, from the project 6174. The left card reads The useless, the right card reads The miserableA series of 126 “lobby cards”, corresponding to the 126 films that the soldier Manuel Rosa Simões had seen since his arrival in Angola until his departure for the Metropolis. Ironically, the first film was “Les Miserables” and the … Continue reading ٠ Sandro Ferreira, memory code: 6174 ٠
© Hanne Darboven, Kulturgeschichte 1880-1983 (Cultural History 1880-1983), 1980-83. Installation view at Dia:Beacon, Beacon, New York. Lannan Foundation Bill Carke: You first saw Cultural History in 1996 at the Dia Art Foundation’s Chelsea space. Can you recall what your response to the work was back then and how it’s evolved since? Dan Adler: (Laughs) My initial response was of being overwhelmed! The installation took up several large galleries. And, the amount of material to look at! Over 1,600 panels containing thousands of sheets of paper and all these uncanny-looking sculptural objects punctuating the exhibition. I took notes at the time … Continue reading ┐ Hanne Darboven – Cultural History └
How To Be is a series of exercises that revisit and reimagine early 19th century primers for “young ladies.” I stumbled upon these manuals while researching 19th century etiquette books. Most include etiquette but only as part of a more comprehensive course of education. They were intended for upper-class girls and women who had few opportunities for formal schooling. Instead, girls took their lessons from these books, serials and pamphlets and from their mothers or older sisters at home. The manuals include subjects ranging from etiquette and fashion to archery and riding, from botany, entomology and mineralogy to painting, dancing … Continue reading ┐ Caitlin Rueter └
© Sara Rahbar, Untitled, from the series Love arrived & How red, photography, 2008 © Sara Rahbar, Trapped in Dark Night with Nowhere to Run, I Have Died a Million Times Every Night in this Bed (left) + Kurdistan Flag #5 (right), from the series Flags, mixed media + textiles, 2005-2010 © Sara Rahbar, Solitary (left) + Anonymously yours (right), from the series Confessions of a Sinner, mixed media, 2011/12 Rahbar seems to meditate on the flag like a monk would stare at an icon. “It represents my father and so many, many promises and hopes of tomorrow … It … Continue reading ┐ Sara Rahbar └
© Sofia Silva, we will bring chaos if not (detail), from the series The Protester, 2012 Continue reading ┐ Désobéissance Civile └
© Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Life Mixing, 1975 © Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Untitled, 1980 – a clear glass jar with lid containing 5 pieces of paper with type-written text and black string. © Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, from It’s Almost That, 1977 © Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Exilee, 1980 “From the mid-1970s until her death at age 31 in 1982, Korean-born artist Theresa Hak Kyung Cha created a rich body of conceptual art that explored displacement and loss. Her works included artists’ books, mail art, performance, audio, video, film, and installation. Although grounded in French psychoanalytic film theory, her … Continue reading ┐ Theresa Hak Kyung Cha (1951-1982) └
© Jane Hammond, Self-Portrait with Twin, 2011 © Jane Hammond, Face Facts, 2006 © Jane Hammond, The Touch-Up, 2009 © Jane Hammond, Cabrito, 2007 © Jane Hammond, Chai Wan Three, 2008 all selenium toned silver gelatin prints “The photographs grew out of the scrapbooks, also. I began collecting photos to put in them, and quickly became obsessed with all the different depictions of the same thing. Soon, I had hundreds of snowmen pictures. I began collecting many more snapshots, other peoples pictures, and soon borrowed lots of my family’s own pictures. I began to think about them and in my … Continue reading ┐ Jane Hammond └
© Deborah Bohnert, Untitled, from the series Bohnert and Bohnert, 2005 © Deborah Bohnert, Untitled, from the series Bohnert and Bohnert, 2005 © Deborah Bohnert, Untitled, from the series The Little People, 2009 © Deborah Bohnert, Untitled, from the series The Little People, 2009 “…Dada had long operated according to the principle of instability, blurring distinctions between art and mass media (in photomontage), art and mass production (in the readymade), and intention and reception (in public provocations and spectacles). In 1921, Roman Jakobson characterized the movement as “transrational”—an indulgence in sheer relativity and paradox—citing Tristan Tzara as support: “I am … Continue reading ┐ Deborah Bohnert └
Abandoned, discarded, unwanted film is woven into handmade artefacts and photographic prints are created in the darkroom from constructed negatives. Time becomes an integral element, with each print or object measuring a duration of film. This recent work explores the materiality of photography and film in the digital age and creates a dialogue between the still frame and the moving image. Mary Stark is searching for celluloid. It’s an exploration that, paradoxically, began in the digital space. “I was interested in working digitally with video,” says Stark, who recently completed an MA in Photography at MMU. “Then I realised that, … Continue reading ┐ Mary Stark – Searching for Celluloid └
© Robert Seydel, all Untitled, from Book of Ruth, collages, c. 2000-09 Robert Seydel’s “Book of Ruth is an alchemical assemblage that composes the life of his alter ego, Ruth Greisman—spinster, Sunday painter, and friend to Joseph Cornell and Marcel Duchamp. Through collages, drawings, and journal entries from Ruth’s imagined life, Seydel invokes her interior world in novelistic rhythms. These seductive, unearthed artifacts, conceived as a gathering of materials from the Smithsonian and a suburban family garage, construct a mosaic portrait of a reclusive, unknown artist for whom the distance between the ordinary and the extraordinary is infra-thin. The fragments … Continue reading ┐ Robert Seydel – Book of Ruth └
@ Maya Rochat, Siren (terrorist), 2010 @ Maya Rochat, Siren (III), 2010 More of Maya’s work here Continue reading ┐ Maya Rochat └
@ Iiu Susiraja, Näytös, from the series Älä nyt suutu, 2008/09 @ Iiu Susiraja, Kannel, from the series Syömään, pöytä on katettu, 2010 “In Susiraja’s esthetics, an image does not remain an image; rather, it requires an entire life. Although Susiraja has focused on photography, her art genre is more comprehensive: to shape a work of art from life. Usually, the salesmen of this genre rely on the American smile, non-sense polished with first-class product phraseology, but Susiraja doesn’t work that way. She scavenges ultimate experiences and the most dismal version of reality, although sometimes the imaginative possibilities for light-hearted … Continue reading ┐ Iiu Susiraja └
© Farhad Ahrarnia, ballet pars no.3 HAND EMBROIDERY ON DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY PRINTED ON CANVAS SILK & COTTON THREAD AND NEEDLES, 2008-10 © Farhad Ahrarnia, beautiful is the silence of ruins II photography on canvas and embroidery, 2011 More of Farhad’s work here Continue reading ┐ Farhad Ahrarnia └
© Cabello / Carceller, Off Escena: If I were…, Madrid 2011 Gender Issues1 “How can we explain a term which is in itself so complicated, but which most of society is determined to simplify? How can we explain that the majority prefer to appear not to understand its diversity? And what is it that makes this pretense possible? Why do gender differences still exist as bipolarized and insurmountable categories? Who benefits from the continuation of this binary split? Why is it indispensable to pathologize those who transgress gender boundaries? Why do most of the transgender representations existing in the collective … Continue reading ┐ Cabello / Carceller, II └
© Kunié Sugiura, Body Brush, 2008 © Kunié Sugiura, After “Electric Dress” A Positive 4, 2002 More of Kunié’s work here and here Continue reading ┐ Kunié Sugiura └
© Tokihiro Sato, #149, 1992 © Tokihiro Sato, #170 Manji, 1992 © Tokihiro Sato, Yura #339, 2001 “The Photo-Respiration series is Sato’s most well known work. When we approached him with our request for a cover photo, we were delighted to learn that he has been continuing to work on the series up until now, as the above 2008 image Shirakami #1 illustrates. Photo-respiration consists of two sub-streams, Breathing Light and Breathing Shadows. To make these photographs, Sato opens up the lens on his 8 x 10 camera for an extended exposure, sometimes up to three hours, and subsequently physically … Continue reading ┐ Tokihiro Sato └
© Carla Cabanas, Three friends, from the project What remains of what it was, 2010/11 © Carla Cabanas, One Little Girl, from the project What remains of what it was, 2010/11 “What remains of what once was – Cabanas Álbum), the artist invokes memory imprecision through erasing, scratching, and fading away of images belonging to her closest surrounding: family. The photographic processing torn off – accumulating in the bottom of the frame – erases information on spaces, context and characters. Just like we all unwillingly discard our personal history, until what remains is but ashes from times gone by.” by … Continue reading ┐ Carla Cabanas └
© Ananda Serné, Untitled © Ananda Serné, Untitled Sometimes I see images in my head and then I draw them, but only with the intention to make a photo later. I almost never take a photo spontaneously. Ananda’s site here Continue reading ┐ Ananda Serné └
© Jean McEwan, Such a game © Jean McEwan, We are alive again #4 Jean’s work here and her zines here Continue reading ┐ Jean McEwan └
© Lesley Dill, Face Pull, 2000 © Lesley Dill, Tongues on Fire, 2001 As a young teen, Dill had a vision, one that she had kept hid den until this project, “I grew up in Maine and had a bedroom window that looked out onto some woods. One morning when I was fourteen and was getting dressed for school, I sat on the bed and looked out the window at the dark leaves against the sky. Somehow, my whole visual screen was suddenly filled with a sort of weblike spiral of images that appeared black on white or white on … Continue reading ┐ Lesley Dill └
© Marcelo Zocchio, guarda-roupa, 2010 IMPRESSÃO JATO DE TINTA SOBRE PAPEL ALGODÃO, CARTÃO, MDF E MADEIRA © Marcelo Zocchio, fusca, from the series Utilidades Domésticas (Domestic Utilities), 2005 IMPRESSÃO JATO DE TINTA, MADEIRA, MDF Marcelo’s portfolio here (pdf) Continue reading ┐ Marcelo Zocchio └
© Cinthia Marcelle, A Herdeira, 2011 © Cinthia Marcelle, O Cosmopolita, 2011 Cinthia’s portfolio (pdf) here Really worth seeing! Continue reading ┐ Cinthia Marcelle └
© Heidi Kirkpatrick,Mother, 2001 © Heidi Kirkpatrick,Mahjong tiles, 2011 “Portland based photographerHeidi Kirkpatrick uses photographs to transform found objects into playful pieces of art. Her images reveal a view of the world experienced by women and she prints them on film positives which she mounts within or on found objectssuch as vintage tins, blocks, boxes, copper plates, dominos and children’s toys. These wonderfully unique pieces can be handled, arranged and adorned on a table rather than hanging on a wall, allowing each object to possess its own unique interactive charm. (…) Kirkpatrick has struggled with a fair amount of physical … Continue reading ┐ Heidi Kirkpatrick └
© Chen Qiulin, Ellisis’s Series No. 3, 2002 (photograph) © Chen Qiulin, Peach Blossom, 2009 (dvd still) At a time when her understanding of contemporary art was still limited, Chen was unexpectedly invited to partake in Parabola, a satellite show of the First Chengdu Biennale (2001). On this occasion she created Ellisis (. . . . . .), a performance piece that she documented in film and photographs. The work is based on a Chinese expression that roughly translates as “sweet harm” and refers to all the enticing things that modern society throws at young women. In Ellisis, Chen sits … Continue reading ┐ Chen Qiulin └
© Julie Cockburn, The Veil, Embroidery on found photograph, 2011 © Julie Cockburn, The Astronaut, Embroidery on found photograph, 2011 “The loss of, or manipulation of, the human face is the most disturbing and fascinating aspect of Cockburn’s work. These faceless or masked portraits me of John Baldessari’s manipulated mass-media images. He often used colored dots, or other means, to cover faces, interrupting the viewer and de-personalizing the image. But Cockburn’s photographs seem to have the opposite effect. She often embroiders or cuts out shapes into a complex pattern, and this record of tedious physical labor draws me into her … Continue reading ┐ Julie Cockburn └
© Nicky Coutts, Estates(Syon), 2007 © Nicky Coutts, Estates(Longleat), 2007 “The photograph Estates was based on 17th century drawings and paintings of stately homes originally commissioned to show them to their most opulent advantage. Each original is manipulated to look like a tower by copying and repeating the floors and placing them one above the other.” source: Danielle Arnaud more of Nicky’s work here Continue reading ┐ Nicky Coutts └
© Tim Hyde, MODEL (TEARS) 0273, 2009 © Tim Hyde, MODEL (TEARS) 1057, 2009 More of Tim’s work here Continue reading ┐ Tim Hyde └
© Lionel Pralus, from the series Masques © Lionel Pralus, from the series Masques More of Lionel’s work here The place for the Collectif Faux-Amis Continue reading ┐ Lionel Pralus └
