Misrepresentation in World Press and Picture of the Year Award Winning Photo

Paolo Pellegrin

Tom Griggs of fototazo recently recommended this article on his Facebook feed.  A very interesting read, especially in light of our recent conversations around ethics and authenticity in Photo I and Photo II.  Click HERE to access the article from BagNews.

Canteen Magazine's Naked Judging Featured on Lenscratch

This will likely be helpful for students to look over in terms of thinking about your work and how it may be perceived by others within the photographic community of lookers and thinkers.  I encourage everyone to have a look at the images and read through the commentary on Lenscratch (from both exhibition jurors and photographers whose work did not advance to the final rounds).  The comments (from both) are very telling.

Click HERE to view the post.

Can A Computer Generate Every Possible Photograph

Re-blogging from ART300 student, Kevin Griffin.  Thanks for bringing this to our attention, Kevin!  Very in keeping with our discussion in class today related to technological advancement and the nature of photography, and our relationship to images. 
Here is Kevin's blog post:
http://kevingriffinphotography.blogspot.com/2013/02/in-relation-to-discussion-today.html
And here is a link to the story on the artist's website:
http://www.jeffreythompson.org/EveryPossiblePhotograph.php

http://www.jeffreythompson.org/EveryPossiblePhotograph.php

Ben Jones: The Video on Rhizome

Interesting write up on Rhizome about the Ben Jones exhibition at The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. 

Ben Jones, The Video

"The exhibition has been described as a series of video installations and while, technically, that’s correct, it’s also more than that. Collectively, the works in the show function as an installation about making videos.  Unlike many of his fine art contemporaries, Jones is himself a manifestation of network age high-low plurality.  He runs a successful commercial animation practice, creating music videos for the likes of Beck and M.I.A., and he writes, voices, animates, directs and scores the Problem Solverz, a children’s show soon to begin it’s second season. The works on display at MOCA seem keenly aware of his double life and how these differing working methods affect his artistic production."

Click HERE to read the full text and to view images from the show.

Latent Image - Site Redesign

Max Marshall does a fantastic job updating this site with fantastic work on a daily basis.  Take a moment to peruse the site - good stuff.  Click HERE to access.

Barney Kulok (from the Latent Image - 1.25.13)

Vinepeek discussed on Hyperallergic

I'm admittedly perplexed and intrigued.  Could be habit forming, to be sure.  Click HERE to read some thoughts as expressed on Hyperallergic, and/or go directly to Vinepeek.

Photographs in the (Real) World

I came across a couple of interesting posts that related nicely to our conversation in Photo II yesterday - particularly regarding the indexical nature of the photograph as related to authenticity, as well as the nature of being an attendant observer of the world.

Click HERE to read the most recent contribution to Still Searching by Martin Jaeggi, where he interestingly discusses the complicated relationship between the still and moving image, "Despite their more or less identical technical basis, photography in the 20th century was a medium that was considered to have an elevated claim to veracity and authenticity, whereas film was the very epitome of artifice and glorious lies."

And click HERE to read a brief excerpt from The Incoherent Light on the work of British photographer Raymond Moore along with a few clips from a film made about his work.

Raymond Moore, Image from Every so often monograph, 1984

SLOW @ Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville

Very sadly, this exhibition does not open until next weekend (I'll be there today for a lecture I'm giving at the library across the street - go figure).  It looks to be a really nicely curated show though, so I'll be heading back to be sure.  Here are some details from the museum website:

"SLOW: Marking Time in Photography and Film focuses on artists and works that engage photography, film and video to explore questions of time and duration. A combination of still photographs, films, and video works, the exhibition explores multiple approaches to the topic: some works animate and extend the temporal boundaries of painting; others open the sealed confines of photography to the flow of time. In addition, photographic works capture an ever-expanding series of gestures and moments — ones that physically and conceptually transform the boundaries of the medium. In most cases, the temporal elements at play invite the viewer to slow down the process of looking and engage with the works over an expanded period of time in order to observe their unfolding." 

David Claerbout
Ruurlo, Boculorscheweg, 1910, 1997
single channel video projection, black & white, silent, 10 min loop
Courtesy to the artist and Yvon Lambert, Hauser & Wirth, Micheline Szwajcer

Janelle Lynch @ Southeast Museum of Photography in Daytona

Janelle Lynch, Untitled 9, from the series, La Fosa Común

Excellent opportunity to see photographic work in person.  Daytona is but a hop, skip and jump from here.  This exhibition (and artist talk, later in the semester) is highly recommended.  Click HERE to visit the museum's website.  An excerpt about the work from the museum's website below -

JANELLE LYNCH
Los Jardines de México

January 25 - April 14, 2013
Exhibition Opening Reception: Friday, January 25, 6:00-8:00pm
Artist's Talk, Book Signing and Reception: March 29, 6:00-8:00pm

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

Los Jardines de México presents three related bodies of work, La Fosa Común, Akna and El Jardín de Juegos. Images of overlooked or obscure urban and rural landscapes, they explore aspects of the life cycle—loss, death, regeneration—while simultaneously celebrating life and its intricate beauty.

La Fosa Común is a series of photographs made with an 8x10 camera in Mexico City’s common grave. The site is a burial place for the indigent and unidentified. Also made with an 8x10 camera, Akna is a series of portraits of tree stumps in a nature reserve that explores the theme of rebirth. “Akna,” in Mayan, means “mother” and is the goddess of birth and fertility. Made with a 4x5 camera, El Jardín de Juegos depicts the relics of a children’s recreation area, void of people and eclipsed by nature and neglect.

“Lynch manages to create pictorial order and locate the sites of subtle drama within these Mexican gardens. Her approach has an exquisite lightness of touch, which ensures that the meaning of her photographs is neither too literal nor over-prescribed.” —Charlotte Cotton, Curator and Writer, London

Interview with Kate Durbin

I found this particularly interesting in light of our discussion in Digital Media the other day about New Aesthetics.  Durbin takes this on in really interesting ways and delves into Tumblr culture in particular.  Click HERE to read the interview on Hyperallergic.

Image from Kate Durbin’s “iPrincess”

Some Thoughts on the 2013 Deutsche Borse Photography Prize

As always, this award generates some interesting opinions.  I've grown rather tired of the photographer/artist debate, but aside from beginning on that note, 1000 Words published a thoughtful essay on the nominees.  Click HERE to read the article.

© Cristina De Middel

Bill Viola in Miami

Bill Viola, Three Women, 2008. Color High-Definition video on plasma display mounted on wall,
61 x 36.25 x 4 inches (155.5 x 92.5 x 12.7 cm). Performers: Anika, Cornelia, Helena Ballent. Photo: Kira Perov.

Well, hot damn!  Guess I'll finally be making my way down to Miami after living in Florida for almost five full years.  Apparently this will be the only U.S. venue for this particular exhibition (although, did I dream that? I'm not seeing it in the press release now).  At any rate, below is an excerpt from the press release as seen on e-flux:

The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), North Miami will present a major exhibition of work by Bill Viola, recognized as one of the leading practitioners of video art. Bill Viola: Liber Insularum will begin its sole presentation in the United States at MOCA, North Miami during Art Basel Miami Beach.  The exhibition at MOCA marks the first public presentation of Viola’s new piece Ancestors, a recently completed video work that explores the layers of reality and illusion in the physical world, as well as the dimensions between and beyond it. The exhibition Bill Viola: Liber Insularum is presented as part of MOCA’s Knight Exhibition Series. It was first shown last year at Sala de Arte Contemporaneo del Gobierno de Canarias (Spain). The exhibition is organized in collaboration with Bill Viola Studio and was curated by Roc Laseca.

An iconic contemporary artist who draws from Eastern and Western spiritual traditions, Bill Viola is known for creating immersive video installations that explore such universally human subjects as birth, death, and the nature of consciousness. His exhibition is inspired by The Book of the Islands of the Archipelago, authored by Florentine ecclesiastic Cristoforo Buondelmonti in the 15th century. The works featured in Liber Insularum (The Book of Islands) use this historic text as a reference point to engage with distinctly modern themes of spiritual isolation in a 21st-century global landscape.

Works in the exhibition
Ancestors, 2012
Three Women, 2008
Addie, 2008
Darrow, 2008
Howard, 2008
Lenny, 2008
The Raft, 2004
Observance, 2002
Catherine’s Room, 2001
Four Hands, 2001
Surrender, 2001
Unspoken (Silver & Gold), 2001
Ascension, 2000
The Quintet of the Astonished, 2000
The Reflecting Pool, 1977–79

Odette England's Thrice Upon a Time

Image Credit:  Odette England (from Feature Shoot)

I keep running across this work, and I really like it.  There is something so visceral about the rips, tears, holes and stains in these negatives - the result of being pounded and drug across the landscapes they depict.  Really nicely compressing together the whole past/present conundrum.  And some of the best work I've seen that incorporates the nostalgic look, and the nostalgic feel without becoming cloying.  Good stuff.  Read an interview with the artist on Feature Shoot by clicking HERE.

Zoe Leonard Q+A

Really nice little interview with Zoe Leonard in Art in America yesterday.  She talks about her recent sun photographs and camera obscura installations.  A good read.  Click HERE to access.

Doug Aitken - Altered Earth (Part 2)

Doug Aitken, Altered Earth, 2012, Installation view

Nice review of this work in Frieze the other day.  Makes me think of the conversation we had in Video Art last week about the immersive Pipilloti Rist installation at MOMA in regard to its lush aesthetic qualities and the questions that prompted.  The review of the Aitken work concludes with the suggestion that, "...the work offers a direct sensual aesthetic. What finally saves it from the trap of postcard picturesque is the previously alluded to sense of Ballardian hyperstition – the post-apocalyptic possibility of a de-familiarized perception in each innocent act of discovery."

Read the entire review HERE.