Photographer of the Week: Clare Strand

As much as I love scamming Barnes and Nobles by reading Aperture without ever paying for it there was one instance where I honestly felt it was a real crime not to buy the issue. It was issue #200 and on the cover was a deranged woman wearing a striped dress sitting at a desk in front of a graphed white-board. On the desk was a clock used for film processing. As if the woman was graphed herself and not real, the clock assures us what Roland Barthes once stated about photography, "the photograph possesses an evidential force, and that it's testimony bears not on the object but on time." Barthes' ideas on photography rings through the work of Clare Strand compressing each chord into the most minimally executed progression you'll ever envision.

Goddamn.

Strand understands both the capabilities of the medium and it's constraints. A great example of her intelligence with the medium is her renowned series "Conjurations (2009)". A body haphazardly floating, a severed little girl, a standing figure underneath a cloak, all referencing the comparisons between photography and magic. Barthes again resurfaces with this notion, "...the realist do not take the photograph for a 'copy' of reality, but for an emanation of past reality: a magic, not an art."

By staging her subjects in the middle of each magic trick, Strand emulates this emanation of the 'past reality' while also showing the polarization of such reality through the absurdity of their being. Strand also leaves everything undone. As the operator she takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary leaving the viewer marooned, waiting for the ordinary once more. Obscuring the proper indications of photographer and magician, Strand acquires an ingenious example of how this medium functions and the ways a photograph can press you between two planes of glass endlessly waiting for reality to return.

Me and Julia are psyched on this girl.

To see more of her works go here.

Each week I will be posting a small column about a contemporary photographer/artist.

xoxo George

The day the basement dwellers have been waiting for...

PHOTO CRIT NIGHT.
For those image obsessed students, for those angsty artists who just aren't getting enough from their classmates, for all you crazy kids yearning for someone (anyone!) to talk...and talk...and talk about your work.
Sunday Oct. 2nd is your time to shine.
But in all seriousness, this is a really great opportunity to meet with a group of genuine people to talk shop ( and not have them roll their eyes at you because DEAR LORD this girl can't stop talking about art!)
Starts at 6 and will go till around 12 most likely. Sign up sheet for a crit slot is right outside the cage.
DO IT NOW.


xoxo,
Charlie

p.s. bring food, and "juice" a staple for every critique night.

She said we think to much, I've been thinking about it.

I was sitting with a group of visually interested people when a "discussion" broke out. It was, of course, art related. From what I can recall it seemed to center around commercial (such a tricky term) vs. "fine" art. To fully understand this discussion I have posted the video/audio... who says you can't record without permission? pssshhh amateur's!
This is how it went. (<--click)
Do you understand now?
I'm sure we all often feel this way in general, but I had to laugh. When you finish talking with people and you ask yourself "what just happened?!" I can almost gaurentee you were engaged in the most intricate of all conversations, the kind often based on personal taste, the environment, individual histories, ect. Unfortunately these conversations (the ones without clear guidelines, directions, points of view) often leave all parties disoriented and wondering...did he say salami? or provolone?

So, ask yourself this- are you the one speaking Italian...or are you trying to get by with a mustache?

xoxo,
Charlie






(did you seriously ask yourself that? jeeze)

SuperMoon (the greatest super hero, although less well known)

Supermoon (March 19's Supermoon, the closest the moon has been to earth in 18 years)

Come check out Elizabeth Tubergen's show, Supermoon
(it has nothing to do with a superhero)
But certainly has something pretty spectacular going on. What better word to talk about the moon then Spectacular? I can't think of one.
Hope to see you there!


Opening Reception
When?:Saturday, September 24th, 2011
What time?: 6 p.m.
Where at?: Tyler Photography Gallery (my home in the basement)
*Show runs until October 8th
*Hosted by the Photo Grads

**Edit**

Since posting this I made it my mission to get a little more info on Elizabeth, seeing as I was having trouble getting much about this specific show. And can I say awesome? Please, Please look through her blog archives, specifically the 2010 images. Truly an excellent example of a multidisciplinary artist. I am ridiculously stoked to see what she is up to. Even if you miss the opening...check out her work because I guarantee it is seriously exciting.

Journey and Product Laid Down Their Guns

In this world of creatively driven people there exists two different schools of thinking. We have exhibit A, "Product People", those who work within a start-end mindset. These individuals are less concerned with how they get to their point and more focused on what they have to show for it. They cringe at the idea of a messy breakup, or, (for those who shamefully watched the Bachelorette last season) "the dot-dot-dot". This idea of creating for the sake of creating is foreign and more then that it is uncomfortable in its ambiguity.

Exhibit B, the "Journey Junkies", this strange breed tend to make without knowledge of the end result, but have also excepted in advance that there might not be one. Their interest tends to be rooted in the way they are progressing forward...and sometimes backward. Failure is non-existent when the pressure of finality doesn't weigh heavily upon them, it is merely a fork in the road.

As Troward said, " This Creative Process, therefore, can only be conceived of as limitless,while at the same time strictly progressive, that is, proceeding stage by stage, each stage being necessary as preparation for the one that is to follow."

Admittedly, I tend to reside in Exhibit B and I apologize for any bias you may feel. However, the real issue at hand is this-- both modes of thinking are rooted in a common ground. Creating, no matter what form it takes, is coming from the same basic desire in all of us to make sense of....everything and anything. What has occurred to me while seeing these processes in practice is that perhaps they are complementary, "Each supplies what is wanting in the other (Troward)." Perhaps, saying you cannot relate to these other ways of working is to do yourself a disservice. I think the Journey deserves a Product and the Product is deserving of some fluidity.

xoxo,
Charlie

p.s. after years of e-mails from K. Scott, I finally opened one. Guess what? FREE coffee in the gallery every Monday morning. Thanks K.Scott, for truly knowing your audience.

**Edit**
Exhibit B could also be referred to as Maximalist
Exhibit A deserves more credit then I gave it, and I plan to expound on their attributes at a later date. Stay tuned Product People, you do have worth and value!

-Valerio Spada-

I have laid eyes on his winning Blurb book "Gomorrah Girl" and let me tell you a thing or two about it.
The best way I know how to describe this is how I imagine it would be to play therapist for a day.
Let me explain, when I look through the images I am an observer into a way of living that is unfamiliar not only in location, but in culture, and experience. But there is the essence of the lives captured that also captures me.
Lucky for you, this off kilter explanation isn't all you have to go on, come see Valerio Spada speak on Monday September 26th.
1p.m.
Tyler Auditorium.
Please attend so I don't feel as though I have done this work a great injustice.

xoxo,
Charlie

Tricks and Tips to be Advised

I am passing along some wisdom to the rest of you for upcoming K.C. or L.D. scenarios-altercations-battles- or generic (almost pleasant) visits.

1. Be prepared in general (a pen, a course list, possible bribes,people skills, a gentle spirit--the works)
2. Know your stuff (this falls in the be prepared category, but still needs repeating)
3. Go early, in terms of the time of day and probably semester. If you go early they haven't had the chance to hate the student population, their paperwork, and life in general.
4. Do not for any reason let them out of your sight, there is a huge possibility they will not come back. As soon as your face popped around the corner, they began plotting ways to get rid of you... DO NOT LET THEM ESCAPE.
5. Ask them for their approval, preferably a signed copy stating that you are a genius and a master schedule planner because you WILL be graduating in under 7 years. (well done, well done)

And now I send you off into the wilderness of a new semester. Mama loves you, make good choices
xoxo,
Charlie