N I H I L S E N T I M E N T A L G I A,
a blog about photography by Sofia Silva
image caption (above): © Soraya Vasconcelos, untitled, digital c-print, 122×163 cm, 2007. More of Soraya’s recent work can be seen here. Models of “territories” are constructed with organic matter and inorganic material: paint, pigments, varnishes, wax, plaster… There is a process of constructionIs it possible to formulate a general theory of artistic collaboration? And…
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© 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 Meditations in an Emergency. © Stella Bach, Untitled, from the project Meditations in an Emergency.…
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© 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 when it involves some sort of sewing. Ana Teresa’s work is anything but simple, though…
Read More© 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…
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© 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…
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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…
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© 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…
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© Ian van Coller, Daisy Angy Kekae (left), from the series Collage Portraits, 2009 “This series combines several influences that have personally been relevant to my art-making process. The work grew out of my experimentation with the use of quilting techniques based on traditions from Africa and Gees Bend, Alabama as a way to tell…
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© 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…
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© Jane Hammond, Self-Portrait with Twin, 2011 © Jane Hammond, Face Facts, 2006 © Jane Hammond, The Touch-Up, 2009 © 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…
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© 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 “…Dada had long operated according to the principle of instability, blurring distinctions between art and mass media (in photomontage), art and mass…
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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…
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© 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…
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© Akatre, Untittled © Akatre, Untittled © Akatre, Untittled Akatre’s design studio work
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© Alison Stolwood, Dark Green Fritillary on Wildlife Attracting Mix – installation shot 2011 © Alison Stolwood, Painted Lady (with sponge & with Fruit) – installation shot, 2011 © Alison Stolwood, Light Trap [Florescent] More of Alison’s work here
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@ Maya Rochat, Siren (terrorist), 2010 @ Maya Rochat, Siren (III), 2010 More of Maya’s work here
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@ 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…
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© Sarah Maple, ‘Self portrait with Fried Eggs’, C-Type Print, 2008 © Sarah Maple, ‘I’ve got status anxiety (text)’ – Acrylic on paper collage © Sarah Maple, ‘I’ve got status anxiety’, C-Type Print, 2009 Sasha: When told that the theme of the current No More Potlucks was Ego, you quickly responded, “I have a lot…
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“When I was seven, when I was sixty-seven, my desire was the same. All I wanted was a horse in my backyard. I truly believed as a youngster that I would wake up one morning on my birthday and find a horse tethered, eating lawn grass and waiting for me. The surprising thing is that…
Read More© 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
Read More© 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…
Read More© Kunié Sugiura, Body Brush, 2008 © Kunié Sugiura, After “Electric Dress” A Positive 4, 2002 More of Kunié’s work here and here
Read More© 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,…
Read More© 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…
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© 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
Read More© Jean McEwan, Such a game © Jean McEwan, We are alive again #4 Jean’s work here and her zines here
Read More© 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…
Read More© 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)
Read More© Cinthia Marcelle, A Herdeira, 2011 © Cinthia Marcelle, O Cosmopolita, 2011 Cinthia’s portfolio (pdf) here Really worth seeing!
Read More© 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,…
Read More© 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 (. . .…
Read More© 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…
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