Contacts Vol. 2 - Jeff Wall Response

The Death of Sardanapalus by Eugène Delacroix

The Destroyed Room by Jeff Wall

I've always appreciated artists who mimic or recreate famous works of art with their own spin. Jeff Wall is among that group.

He used advertisement technology to create art. I love this. It's like he reclaimed this technology for himself, and now something that was purely for commercial use becomes for art.

His work is very much like movie stills. You feel like you are only getting a small snippet of the story, but there is so much that happened before and will continue to happen. Since he collaborates with his models, who are mostly actors, this makes complete sense.

"I think all photos exists in this tension, that it's either only a fragment or its microcosmos." - Jeff Wall

"All pictures are a dialectic between depth and flatness." - Jeff Wall

"What is Conceptual Photography?" (Part 1 & 2) Response

"The subject was also the object of the picture"- John Hilliard

I like his idea that exposure can change the significance of the photograph. This is something I've recently been experiencing with the tin-type photography.



"I find that the dialogue around photography can be very obsessed with what is representation" - Suzanne Mooney

About Conceptual Art...
"They (museum/gallery visitors) can recognize the content but they don't necessarily have any access to the ideas, motivations, the historical references." - Lucy Soutter

"I'm quite interested in Photography's way to hone in on just one way of seeing." - Suzanne Mooney

The conversation that  Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin have at the beginning is really good, but to long to transcribe.  So WATCH IT.

Dick Blau Artist Talk - Response

Dick Blau's talk was interesting. Hearing an artists background always makes me appreciate their work more. My favorite video of his is Up on the Block One Sunday. It seems so real, genuine. He was really interested in these people, and spent time getting to know them.

Later Molly and I were talking and both agreed that most of his films are to long. They start to loose their potency because it seems like he gets his point across and then continues for another few unnecessary minutes. As an outsider to the project it is easy to see this, but the artist always has a hard time paring down. This is clearly an issue for him since he is paying someone to curate a book of his images. 

My least favorite video was Polish Easter in Chicago. This just seemed like a slide show. There were some really strong images in the series that standing as a set would have been much more powerful than the video.

Artist Presentation Choices

1. William Eggelston
2. Robert & Shana Parke Harrison
3. David Hockney

Response to Georges Rousse

I've always enjoyed anamorphosis (the name of the distortion that George Rousse uses). It was used frequently in the early renaissance and continues to be used today by contemporary artists.

I find it so disappointing that Rousse's works exist only in photograph. I wish that you could travel to the locations and view the works from the intended viewpoint, but that you could also explore the intricacies of the construction. He spends so much time creating them that I would think he would want to save them for more than a photograph.

I understand that he is creating a 2-d composition (photo) with 3-dimensional space, which is an interesting concept in and of itself.

I of course appreciate that he uses a view camera. I think this fact is what helps him abstract the physical space more. The ground glass has lines on it which help you align and center everything perfectly (if that's your goal), and already has you viewing the work on a flat surface rather than through an eye piece like all other cameras.

Response to Still Moving

My three favorite pieces were: 

Joseph Mougel 

Cecilia Condit

Stephen Hilyard 

Cecilia's was especially moving. I appreciated Joseph Mougel's work much more after learning about his background during the artist talk. I appreciate that he really connects to place and shows and interesting way to document physical work. 

I think my favorite is the hole where he has lunch. I appreciated this from a naturalist/hikers perspective originally, but loved how it related to his grandfather's experience in fox holes during the war. 

I think he provides a voice to people who struggle to integrate into civilian life after serving. It's a difficult thing to manage and while he works it out through art he might help others see that it's not an easy transition. 

Stephen Hilyard's piece was very impressive. My daughter enjoyed interacting with it, which is always interesting to see how human interaction changes the meaning. I would like to hear him speak about his work, because a lot of it seems very abstract. 

Response to Wasteland

This is my 3rd time to watch this film. And I've enjoyed it equally each time. The initial draw of the images themselves has worn off for me although I still love the concept of creating high art out of garbage. Like I said in class my favorite part has become the human interactions. Particularly the interaction of Vik with the pickers. It's such a challenging role to play. How do you improve their lives, but in a way that is maintainable for them. I think this is the essential question that all non-profits face. I've participated in many mission trips throughout my life, and it always seems that the organizations that do the most good are run by people who exist in the space they are improving. I think Vik did help them, but he might of done more damage to them long term. The best way to help the world is to help your corner of it. I think this project was more about completing Vik's vision for his art than helping the people there. He could of done the same thing in NYC with the homeless population and then continued to help these people there.