An Emergent Representation

So, this is the part that precedes the passage about the “photo as an emergent, novel representation” that I quoted from Laruelle in the post I made before I made my way to Banff:

The ‘categorical’ content of photography, the a priori photographic content, serves in a certain way as an hypothesis (that must not be imagined, in empiricist manner, to be a simple fiction or supposition) of the experimental work carried out by the photographer who tries to adjust the techno-perceptual complex, with its image content, to that a priori but still undetermined imaging dimension.

- François Laruelle  

I’m tempted to just leave it at that for now, as it pretty much sums up how I’ve been approaching things while here in residence, thus far.  I’ve let myself run pretty wild in terms of what kinds of spaces and materials I’m paying attention to, and how – both visually and conceptually, I suppose.  Still, a common thread runs through (at least for me) – that of the land and/or components somehow reminiscent of earth and atmosphere.

I suspected I would come across new things to look at here, and after a trip to the hardware store I wound up with some decidedly random stuff, including different types of screen and a bit of cheesecloth.  Of course the moiré patterns became immediately evident – more on that later, I think.  I have to say though, I can’t help but wonder if I was subconsciously influenced by the cover image of The Concept ofNon-Photography sitting on my desk, a detail from Moiré 3, by Liz Deschenes.

Any rate, like I said, more on that later.  For now, a single video clip as well as a few first (lightly edited, and non-composited) images are below.

These words and scattered images are dedicated to Lisa Zaher, in honor of her father.

Click on image(s) below for larger view:

Mountainfield Studies

Getting ready to head to the Banff Centre in Alberta later this week, after attending the College Art Association Conference in NYC.  I plan to continue working on the most recent segment of my "field studies" series that I began while in Iceland last June - tentatively titled, Mountainfield Studies, although this may branch off into Snowfield and Icefield studies (it kind of already has) depending on how I respond to the topography of the Canadian Rockies - and whether or not I decide to bust out the rolls of plastic and tinfoil again, or if I end up working with other materials that I come across or seek out.  I won't know until I get there, I suppose, but I've definitely got ice and mist on the brain, having just finish a little sci-fi novella by H.P. Lovecraft, At the Mountains of Madness.  Still sorting through some other readings on mountains as well, and heading back into François Laruelle's writing to revisit some thinking around the photograph(ic) as elemental impulse.

I plan to post a bit from Banff, and will write more about my thought process as well, most likely. For now, I've posted a group of working studies - a bit of a (potential) new direction that uses composite imagery rather than sequential (or partial) multiples.

But in closing, why not have a few words from Laruelle?  The following passages are excerpted from The Concept of Non-Photography:

What really happens in the framing of a shot? 

There is an a priori photographic intuition that gives not such and such a determinate image, but the very dimension or the sphere as such of the image in its excess or its transcendence in principle over its technical ingredients. The photographer 'images' from the outset beyond perception, albeit with the index and the support of perception - [s]he intuits from the very beginning an ultra-perceptual image, irreducible to perception's powers of analysis and resolution, and of synthesis. 

...a photographic apparatus does not transform one into the other the real and the image, but produces images from other images. 

For the photographer, there are only ever photographic images, an unlimited flux of photos certain of which are virtual, framed without being shot, and others that are technologically effectuated or produced and that now have explicitly as their support the representations of perception, etc.

This is why we shall maintain that the photo is an emergent, novel representation, a discovery, and it precedes photography, that it is given before the operation that manifests it in relation to experience. 

- François Laruelle 

Click on images below for larger view... 

Last Day on the Runway....(Back in September)

Well, time got away from me and I'm just now having a moment to post the images from my last visit to the runway just before the dedication in September.  I was fortunate to have another chance to spend time with a group of school kids that I had toured the site with earlier in the year, and it was pretty fantastic to see their response to the now finished runway.  We also had a chance to go back to the Aviation offices and play around a bit, and make some art.  Similar to the workshop I conducted with the Broward College students earlier that week, I asked the kids (ranging in age from about 8-9 years old to 16-17, I believe) to create their own personal response to the site, using paper and pencil, modeling clay, colored paper, and various bric-a-brac that I brought in. They used their imaginations as well as my own photographs as a starting point. The results were pretty impressive, to say the least.  These kids are smart, and amazingly creative.  This experience was, for sure, one of my highlights as artist-in-residence for the project.

A few images from the site visit and workshop are below (click on any image to enlarge):

Broward College Visiting Artist Lecture and Workshop

I had a really enjoyable experience getting to know some of the students at Broward College during my talk at their North Campus on Thursday evening, as well as during the workshop the following Friday afternoon at the airport.  I’ve set up my “community studio” again during this visit, and this time I’m encouraging visitors to join in the creative process by taking a stab at making a little something of their own on the fly, in the moment (no pun intended, necessarily, but such an approach seems appropriate, given the transient nature of airports and the ephemeral aspects of the construction project).

Any rate, this idea formed the basis of the workshop for the Broward College students on Friday.  After talking with them about my own process, and viewing my installation of 10, backlit photographs on view in the Lee Wagener gallery, I tasked them with coming up with their own creative response to the airport’s transformation in relation to their own experience and understanding.  I had a variety of basic art materials on hand – modeling clay, paper and pencils, charcoal, tissue paper, sculpting “sand”, carving tools, backdrop cloth, etc. – as well as a stack of about 300 photographic work proofs that could be used as inspiration and/or incorporated into new works.  The students also took a brief wander outside to gather natural materials and random debris, which they used to great effect! 

I have to say, it was a really fun afternoon and these students inspired me with their creative energy.  A few images of the students at work as well as their resulting artworks are below.

Click on any image to enter into slideshow view, which provides a larger image.