Lecture 6 (Fall 2011) Doug Rickard

Seen as an interview on the web site of Pier 24, San Francisco:
http://vimeo.com/30357393

I saw Rickard's work in early August 2011 in Pier 24, In person and not through the internet. Although his images are appropriated from Google Street view, it was interesting to see his work being put into an art collection. Pier 24 is one of the institutions backing his practice which is important.
At the end of my Spring 2011 semester I did nearly the same thing though to a smaller extent. I visited Baltimore virtually and was able to get very strong images off the screen of the computer. The moral dilemma came up: is it ok if am away from the decaying spaces, too safe and just watching a spectacle. Were I happy to not be taking the Greyhound and walking with a 4x5 camera on these streets? Better safe than sorry. But how is that changing my personal connection. Is it the same as visiting for a day versus living in the same city but in a safer area versus living on these streets. Isn't it superficial.
Rickard's reason to make his images with streetview was financial, just like me. And he managed to make really good images in the tradition of the FSA, Evans, Frank, Shore and other typical American photographers. Having the same concern about superficiallity, it is striking that he can actually access these various places. And this diversity is not superficial. He tries to contradict the universal image of America in social consciousness through showing places that are not restricted but out of the public attention. Or simply not part of the Spectacle.



East Baltimore, my research for a photographic trip, June 2011

Lecture 5 (Fall 2011) Nicolas Moulin

Seen on the website of Site Gallery, Sheffield, UK
http://www.sitegallery.org/archives/1048

He talked about his residency in the University of Sheffield and the show he had in Site gallery. I felt little uncomfortable as he was in the role of the wise foreigner visiting a troubled wasteland city and critiquing it. Well his work is not that but still there is some spectacle of the misfortune. I have been wanting to see his projects, the sculptures, videos and real prints. A review of this show can be seen in Frieze: http://www.frieze.com/shows/review/nicolas_moulin/
Moulin talked about his process. Exploring a place is for extensive period of time in order to get into the rhythm of life, understand its history and establish relations with the people living there. He addressed the romanticism of the decaying and seeing form without function as sculpture... I really get this 21st century romanticism from his work indeed. Being romantic without being silly is hard. References to architecture styles were in the talk but not too in depth. What I really admire Moulin though is his ability to not just represent but make things that are actually relevant to the place. He manages to make excellent work out of the sames concerns that I have.

Lecture 4 (Fall 2011) Mika Rottenberg

This was good to see. I felt many things from her work overlap with my interests but many are out of my sensibility. I truly enjoyed how she found the weird or obsessive people and made work with them. Or maybe exploited them, although they seemed willing to participate. These were the irregulars who don't conform to the normal life of 9-5. I wish I could do that. Also the Chinese restaurant waiting on the counter video added to the feeling she contrasts her other work with the insanity of normal life. On the other hand I felt she made more of a spectacle without going in depth. Her finding of the obsessive people reminded me of Diane Arbus.
The issues that Mika touched on were only stated but not examined. The first video showed was the most compelling and had some diversity of characters, the rest were becoming too much of the same. Her installations look is very appealing and picks on the senses but seems trendy. Is there anything more than the process and the moving parts?

Lecture 3 (Fall 2011) Deke Weaver

This one caught me off guard. It was not a lecture but a performance. I could not believe that this calm and absolutely controlled person can become insane onstage. The performance was really good, it is something similar to the script I wrote for a video at the beginning of the semester. His stories were more focused though. His fuzzy kitty act spoke so much to me as I always wanted to do an animation with a fuzzy cute duckling and dwarfs. I enjoyed his energy on stage and can see that he really enjoys what he does. Sort of nihilistic but I often feel the same way too. His fuzzy kitty video was, as he stated later, inspired by a breakup. The second and third stories relate to my current work, the school children and authority; the 9-5 person finding meaning in life. One of his answers at the end, whether he would perform for children, made me believe he is honest and this is really important. But maybe a person should be careful to what extent, his answer was that he is hesitant because of parents not children because if he wants to talk about huge throbbing dicks he would. For reference see the second video down.

DON'T BE A DICK: A Message From the Honorable Senator from Deke Weaver on Vimeo.

Lecture 2 (Fall 2011) Jennifer and Kevin McCoy

It was good to see the progression of their work. Their almost junky installations that require constant maintenance are interesting case in museum preservation. I liked the dream videos and the theater piece but the sound was disappointing. Somebody asked them after the lecture about it and they gave a good reason for that however I forgot it. I wonder how their work is seen today, when they started youtube was not in operation yet. There are many videos of classified moments in movies, edits to create another meaning. My favorite work though was the post apocalyptic shopping mall because of the topic, the manifestation in the work and moreover the fact that it was made for a mall! Though I truly respect their work I disliked their comment that only in America art is made fun. This was towards the end of the show. Well, their have their thing going well and as long as they are happy its all good.

Lecture 1 (Fall 2011) Zwelethu Mthethwa

The first visiting artist to show unfinished work and ask for opinions. This is very brave as the audience on this events wants authority. A lecture is not a studio visit. I like his work, for the most part. The series I hated was the staged people in parks in South Africa, they looked as bad stock photos. His other photo work is very traditional but in a location that has not been yet covered. I had the feeling that I see Walker Evans' photographs about another country. Mthethwa seems very involved in creating a visual account of these specific people at this point of time. In 50 years there will be a document of his subjects, who otherwise would not be able to leave a trace in public consciousness. And Mthethwa's photographs do exactly this, show something transient and until this moment anonymous. The merit of his work is to have as little intervention in the image and in the same time create highly sophisticated photographs. His personality in his work is his care for his subjects (emphasizing on them not himself), recognizing the importance of the topic he works on and making a really great job photographing it.

Vistiting Artist Meeting 3 (Fall 2011): Deke Weaver

I was not well prepared for this one. He was one of the most non emotional and patient people who has ever visited in such a huge contrast to his performance later that day. I showed him recent work, studies, the candidacy show, my older works on my web site. Yes, he liked them but he needed a story. One of his main concerns with photography, that the story behind the image is more interesting than the image itself. Do I agree about that? It depends on context. No image would draw as much attention as his performance, however, the topics of context and representation are more prominent in photography than story telling. If you are looking for a narrative you can more successfully see it in movies or plays. Images are perceived in a short instant but this is exactly what makes them interesting, the desire to project your thinking on the photograph. Images might not be experiences of themselves but the way that they trigger in the mind past experiences is what makes them intriguing.
In any case, it was my fault as I was not very excited about my work at this point, he asked me this question. Do you like what you do? Well, sort of. I wish I could do more, it's not the work itself but my inability to devote time.