My Climate Change Installation.

I have been working intensely on my Climate Change installation. Below are some photographs from the exhibition; there are two rooms, each with a combination of photographs and objects. One has to experience it, it is not only visual but an experiential installation with a narrative.. To be explored!

This never ending heatwave + Joan Jonas at Tate Modern Tanks, until the 5th of August.

London's green grass has gone yellow photo courtesy of the BBC

This never ending summer we have suddenly turned into California with dry yellow grass everywhere, see pic above.

I cannot recall in my lifetime a continuing heatwave like this in England. The Met Office has issued an Amber warning which they call the Mediterranean Melt Heatwave, telling people not to go outdoors! I am preparing for my first big installation and it is partly about global warming.

I have done weeks of going back and forth between different large DIY shops in order to source materials. I have noticed with the hot weather people are more friendly and talkative.

In the supermarket there are rows of empty shelves: no lettuce, avocados or tomatoes. I am careful with water, I don't use more then I need; they might put a hosepipe ban in place soon. In the street today I saw an elderly lady who had collapsed, with paramedics  attending to her. Buses were delayed, by mistake I took the wrong bus, there was no number at the front and I assumed it was the bus I usually take as it was in its position, I realised too late they had swapped, it took me two hours to get to the appointment, I arrived angry and deflated, and it's only Tuesday...

It's funny how in the heat people change. Also on the wrong bus was a man I normally see on my regular bus; he is usually very smartly dressed and composed. Now, for the first time, I saw him completely dishevelled, shirt wide open showing his bare chest, he sat inside the bus and took his shoes off, two people next to me did the same.. what a sight! I kept my trainers on and my shirt... I didn't want to cause an uproar! Still I understand them - the bus was an oven, acrylic seats, windows that barely opened to let any air in. Little sleep at night; the combination of heat and noise is not conducive to sleep - at least there are no mosquitos!

Video Installations by Joan Jonas photo by Mirta Imperatori

Anyway, I went to another exhibition at Tate Modern on the hottest day to take my mind of things. As always I had my bag checked by security going in. It was nice and cool inside Tate Modern is an island of peace. I started regaining my energy levels which had been a bit weighed down by my constant thinking about the deadlines. I viewed the multi screen video installations by Joan Jonas titled Reanimation and Wind in the Tanks; I didn't know what to expect. Joan Jonas is a leader in performance and video.

The piece, Reanimation, was inspired by Halldor Laxness' novel Under the Glacier, 1968. When you enter the room it is dark and there are several screens showing scenes of nature including mountains see pic above. This is a multisensory work, though not all embracing like the work of Pipilotti Rist.  

I could move close up to the screens or further away from them. Sound and images overlap but not in overwhelming way. Strangely enough I can't recall the sounds, I didn't realise there were any sounds but in the brochure it says a 'Yoing song'  was playing in the tradition of the Sami population of Norway, written and performed by Ande Somby with other pieces by Jason Moran. It shows the beauty of glaciers and the natural landscape which I found surprisingly relaxing, and which interact well with the images on the large screens. The videos were shot in Norway, on the the Lofaten Islands, and show the snow covered mountains under different light conditions, with images of seals, goats and fish. 

Installation by Joan Jonas photo by Mirta Imperatori

There is a sculptural unit set up on the floor opposite one screen, it is a crystal sculpture in action as its pieces move shimmering on the floor in all directions, see pic above. It has a physical, material quality to it; it spoke to me of a child's plaything and of the use of lights in the 1970's; this is counterbalanced by the images on the screen, a mix of ethereal, techy, and physical. The video is about the melting of glaciers, the artist reanimates with her own hands the melting process, showing how life is delicate and how complex is our relationship with nature. This particular piece is called Ice Drawing where she uses ink and ice, the ink spills onto a lean surface and the ice melts. This is a staged environment which interacts well with the images on the large screen.

I was taken aback by the high number of people taking photos of themselves within the work, then to post on Instagram.

Wind by Joan Jonas photo courtesy of Pinterest

Wind is a silent movie and is positioned separately in the space from the other screens so as to make you just focus on it alone, see pic above. It shows a beach on Long Island, filmed on a very cold day, it is a performative piece featuring the artist herself with another artist, Hollingworth, and another larger group in masks who are trying not to be overpowered by the strong winds; the way they move, trying to stay upright, gives playfulness to the piece, it is comical, it's like being part of a live theatre. Her work is influenced by Surrealism and Japanese Noh theatre and she has a keen interest in climate change which is reflected in the work.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude, The Mastaba at the Serpentine Gallery & Hyde Park. Recommended

The London Mastaba By Christo - Photo by Mirta Imperatori

I am very happy that I managed to see the Mastaba floating in the waters of Hyde Park; I see it as an inspirational work, showing what can be achieved when one puts ones mind to it. I didn't think I would have such a happy reaction  when first seeing the Mastaba from high up on the Serpentine bridge. The floating, colourful sculpture which was funded completely by Christo and is composed of 7.506 barrels, is one of his largest barrel works. I was surrounded by tourists from all over the world, who were pointing at the colourful Mastaba in amazement saying things like: what is that? I have never seen anything like it see pic above. But first of all let's start with the exhibition at The Serpentine Gallery, which shows all the work put into the Mastaba through large sketches and 3D models, and how they transform the surrounding landscapes, all over the world, including in this project in Hyde Park. The Mastaba, the meaning of the word from Arabic is 'bench', is of trapezoidal form with inward sloping sides, it naturally forms when cylinders get stacked together. The exhibition shows the different Mastaba proposals for different sites around the world, not all of which have come to fruition.

The Mastaba sketch by Christo & Jeanne-Claude courtesy of Pinterest

The exhibition focuses also on Christo and Jeanne Claude's history of working with barrels, which are affordable materials that also have a commercial use.  The exhibition spans 60 years, starting from Christo's studio in Paris, and includes work I have seen only for the first time. I have seen their larger project in Italy which again was fantastic. The barrels in the exhibition resemble totems of rust as they are put one on top of each other and they are rusty, some large, some smaller, see pics below.

Work by Christo & Jeanne-Claude photo by Mirta Imperatori

Work by Christo & Jeanne-Claude photo courtesy of  Pinterest

Work by Christo & Jeanne-Claude photo courtesy of christojeanneclaude.net

In 1961 they exhibited at Galerie Haro Lauhus in Cologne, the work was titled Dockside Package and includes rolls of industrial paper held with ropes and covered in tarpaulins. Also in 1961 they showed Stacked Oil Barrels, oil drums assembled together into a large structure see pic below; all of this is documented in the exhibition.  I was particularly drawn to his smaller works: the empty wrapped cans, covered as though they were a package, or a ghost of the original package; this specific project is shown indoors but a lot of their other projects with barrels are outdoors. They temporarily disrupted Paris infrastructure on 27th June 1962 when they created a wall of barrels which blocked people and cars. 

Stacked Oil Barrels Cologne Harbour 1961 by Christo & Jeanne Claude

The Iron Curtain by Christo & Jeanne-Claude photo courtesy of Pinterest

This was in protest at the Berlin Wall, which had been constructed in 1961 and spoke of Christo's personal life as a refugee see pic above; he escaped the Soviet Bloc to the West in 1956 via Vienna and Geneva and then moved to Paris two years later. I find this guerrilla side of their work of particular interest as it relates to mine. He stopped wrapping barrels in 1962. In 1964 he and Jeanne-Claude (who passed away in 2009) moved from Paris to New York where Christo still lives today. They successfully completed the Mastaba at the ICA Philadelphia, which was made of 1,240 oil barrels and titled Oil Barrels Mastaba see pic below, and from this they worked to realise a bigger one. So they were focused on increasing the scale of their original project. Barrels were positioned on top of each other in different shapes, sometimes forming fragile, precarious structures, culminating in Barrels Structure (1968) which was build in the shape of a triangle. In the exhibition there are also sketches of The Mastaba, the project for Abu Dhabi see pic below, created in 1977 to be  experienced in the desert dunes. This is still an ongoing project which, if realised, would be the largest sculpture in the world. 

By Christo & Jeanne-Claude 1,240 barrels - courtesy of Pinterest

The Mastaba by Christo & Jeanne Claude  courtesy of Pinterest

The Mastaba in Hyde Park is not static as are some of their other works; it interacts and changes with the surrounding landscape. For example the colourful barrels reflect colour into the water, and the floating Mastaba itself changes in colour depending on where the sun is. It's an artwork for the people as it is not part of the surrounding architecture and it is self funded, it is 20 metres in height, 30 metres in depth and 40 metres in length. The sides of the barrels are red and white and the ends of the barrels are different shades of red, blue and mauve; the whole structure is supported by a steel frame, and was put together by a specialist team. I have to say that from the bridge I could only see the blue and mauve of the Mastaba sometimes just blue or mauve depending where I was standing and depending on the sunlight. It's fun due to the the colours and it contrasts with the grey traditional buildings of London; it's geometric, abstract, and makes you think of op art;  it can be appreciated by anybody.

The London Mastaba by Christo photo by Mirta Imperatori

It is an environmental piece as well, as the colours change with the weather. The barrels made me think also of the politics of oil,  a very current topic at the moment. One can get a closer view of the floating sculpture by renting a boat, I saw plenty of boats around it. Christo and Jeanne-Claude made the impossible into a reality and this requires patience and vision; it took two years to be produced, the barrels are custom made and recyclable. Christo says that after the Mastaba is dismantled there will be funds made available to improve the biodiversity of the Lake's ecosystem. On the Serpentine bridge there were security staff, checking that people didn't do anything silly while on the bridge; they were giving information about The Mastaba in an entertaining way. It was a fun day out in the heat, the display lightens up the city. 

The London Mastaba by Christo photo by Mirta Imperatori

The exhibition is well presented, combining initial sketches with the finished works, and gives a good insight, through the various items on display, into the artists' working procedures.

Olaf Otto Becker's photographs at Huxley-Parlour Gallery.

Summer has finally arrived, it's wonderful to wake up every morning and a see a clear blue sky and the sun shining. The problem is when you step out into the outside world and you find out that trains are delayed or cancelled and it takes you twice as long to get across literally anywhere. You are amazed to discover that train companies use tracks that don't expand with the heat like they do in hot countries I guess they do this to save money as they would require less maintenance then expandable tracks. It seems the train service here only runs when the weather is perfect. If it is too cold or snowy or windy trains don't run properly and in the summer it is the same. I can't remember when was the last time I took a train  that was running on time, they are generally delayed. On the hottest  day of the year I found myself stuck on the train for two hours on a journey that usually should take half an hour. The driver first took us on a grand tour of the area, then the train stopped for nearly an hour in the heat just in front of the next station, we could see the platform but could not get off; the driver kept whispering something but we couldn't hear exactly what. If outside it was 28-30C inside it was 40C, we were gasping for air. I was really glad when we finally reached the station which was in a stage of complete chaos, I got out as quickly as possible. It is only when things are majorly disrupted that one understands how over-crowded London is. My friends told me that on the road it was no better with short journeys taking up to 3 hours long.

Photo by Olaf Otto Becker courtesy of Huxley-Parlour Gallery

The exhibition of Olaf Otto Becker's photographs at Huxley-Parlour Gallery near Piccadilly displays pictures taken during his many trips to the western coast of Greenland. He used a rubber raft to move between places while using a large format camera to take pictures of the glaciers, documenting the effects of global warming on the coastal landscape. He also took photographs of isolated, vividly painted wooden houses. His main preoccupation, however, was to document the ever changing landscape of the glaciers and icebergs. 

Photo by Olaf Otto Becker courtesy of Huxley-Parlour Gallery

The photographs show the vastness and magnitude of the glaciers and icebergs; they are calm, meditative pieces, and again they made me think of Tacita Dean's work,  in particular her mountain peaks which I recently viewed at the Royal Academy, all about the idea of the sublime. Each photograph has to been seen in the context of the others; they create a story, the icebergs turn into living sculptures, they are majestic, but still also scary due to their size.  Some of the  photographs have been taken from below the icebergs, looking up at them,  making them look even bigger;  this is a specific narrative in which the glaciers and icebergs are the central figures see pics above and below.

Photo by Olaf Otto Becker courtesy of Huxley-Parlour Gallery

He documents the evidence of over-population and the consequences this is having on the natural landscape, with global warming, and highlighting how the land and water are becoming scarce in many areas of the world. The photographs reminded me of the painter Caspar David Friedrich in their composition; he was a 19th century romantic landscape painter, whose contemplation of nature, and through it getting close to the sublime, produced pictures where the viewer is encouraged to experience the sublime potential of nature. His winter landscapes are solemn and still. 

Hochgebirge painting by Caspar David Friedrich courtesy of Pinterest

The Sea of Ice painting by Caspar David Friedrich courtesy of Pinterest

The colours of the icebergs are so clear and beautiful that they make them almost feel unreal, singling out pieces of the icebergs, showing them in one shot and making them feel more like relicts in the still water, imparting a fragility to them that suggests they will soon disappear. All these chunks of icebergs floating along that will soon no longer be there, where the wooden structure of the houses actually looks more solidly based then the glaciers themselves, this is scary! 

Photos by Olaf Otto Becker courtesy of Huxley-Parlour Gallery

The wooden houses with human belongings spread around them look like they don't belong there in the midst of the stillness of the landscape; this is quite poignant. The houses and floating icebergs are juxtaposed next to each other in the exhibition and they are all in white frames. The icebergs are like cut flowers they are living and dying at the same time.

This is an interesting and thought provoking exhibition about the consequences of global warming.

https://huxleyparlour.com/exhibitions/olaf-otto-becker/

Tacita Dean's exhibition, Landscape at The Royal Academy of Arts.

I enjoy working at night, it's the only time when it's quiet. That's what I felt while going to Tacita Dean's exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts. Her work is grounded in nature, it slows you down, it removes you from the hectic life outside. In the first room there were her works on slabs of charcoal that make you think of the combination of light and air, but also of the material itself, and of earth. Her exhibition, Landscape at the Royal Academy, is part of a three part exhibition of her work. The  other two works are: Still Life at the National Gallery and Portrait at the National Portrait Gallery. I have not seen the other two exhibitions so I cannot comment on them. I will just focus on the one at the Royal Academy. The earth is present in it's physicality, both in the chalk drawings and also as found objects,  stones which are displayed in a cabinet. 

Antigone by Tacita Dean photo courtesy of the Guardian.

There is also a new 35 mm film which shows that she continues to be  a supporter of analogue film. This film is  entitled Antigone. It is presented  in split screen mode giving multiple view points,  it's nearly an hour long,  and the film is edited in the camera itself. We see a man walking in nature with a stick,  and close ups of  volcanic points in Yellowstone National Park see pic above; all is peaceful. We move from Wyoming to the town of Thebes in Illinois and to the first courthouse where Abraham Lincoln practiced. The movie and the work in the exhibition force you to slow down, they make you think of romanticism and the sublime. Dillane, the man with the stick, represents Oedipus in Greek mythology who killed his father and married his own mother, Jocasta. They will have four children together including Antigone his daughter. Oedipus became King of Thebes and after Jocasta killed herself he blinded himself and left his city. In the film he seems to walk across land with no aim while wearing a pair of glasses, despite the fact that he is blind. Meanwhile in the other section of the film Ann Curson discusses aspects of Greek mythology.

Antigone By Tacita Dean courtesy of Pinterest

I didn't paticularly identify with Dillane as Oedipus; rather than tragedy he actually made me think of the romantic walker who walks on his own as represented in Rousseau's the Reveries Of The Solitary Walker and also in Thoreau's Walden, this romanticised view of wondering or living in direct contact with nature. The close ups of the volcanic points force you to slow down as they are filmed in slow motion,  The images are meditative and grounded see pic above, they clash with the story of Oedipus & Antigone (which is also the name of Tacita Dean's elder sister). The film is not just about the story but also about light: dying light, the first glimmers of light, the eclipsed sun. Sometimes we are in several places at once, the two films overlap.

Montafon Letter by Tacita Dean photo courtesy of Pinterest

The first room is dominated by snowy mountain peaks, one of which takes over the main room due to its vastness. It made me think of Monet's work the Water Lilies which I saw in Paris a while back. Tacita Dean with the snowy mountains has made her own version, it is more minimalist and austere and was created using traditional chalk and blackboards; it is labour intensive work. Entitled Montafon Letter see pic above, the picture of the mountain peak refers to an avalanche that burried a village in the Austrian Alps in 1689. A second avalanche apparently burried the priest and a third avalanche uncovered him. Here is nature, the mountain, seen as sublime but also powerful and unpredictable, the essence of danger. It is composed of nine blackboards, joined together and more than seven metres wide. Hidden in its surface are  written notes and apparently these are about Brexit. The blackboards are not fixed with fixative as it is usually done when using chalk.

There is also a series of smaller chalk pencil drawings to accompany the main work. So we have earth, clouds, stones and light all together. The work is not based on one place but shows Tacita Dean's extensive travels from Cornwall to the USA. She observes nature, the changing weather, and her ongoing relationship with nature, places, and people she encountered. At the same time she looks at the past and our relationship with history, in particular the history of painting.

Work by Tacita Dean photo courtesy of Pinterest 

In the second room are lots of tiny leaves, inside a glass case; these come together to form a landscape see pic above. They were collected from 1972 which means she started collecting them when she was seven years old. In the exhibition there are also smaller slates and chalk drawings of clouds see pic below; chalk here is sprayed and there are inscriptions such as Where England?  These are materials mined from the land, possibly referencing the Victorian period of the Royal Academy, as in Victorian times they used slates with chalk in schools.

Work by Tacita Dean photo courtesy of Pinterest

Andreas Greiner exhibition in Berlin - Dittrich & Schlechtriem Gallery till the 23rd of June 2018.

I was invited to a talking event. When I arrived at the venue I barged into the room  in which I thought the event was taking place only to find that there was a film screening instead. I interrupted the film screening but instead of being kicked out by the organisers they asked me to stay and watch the film. The film director came forward with two other people on his team and said we need someone who is not part of the group to give an honest opinion about the film; if you see anything that doesn't look right, or sound right, please let us know, we are fed up with people telling us how wonderful our film is  and we just want an honest opinion before showing it to a wider audience. So I said ok as I was told the original event I was supposed to attend had been moved. I watched the entire film which actually was very good. At the end the film director and his team came forward and said: what did you think? I said it's very good, I enjoyed it but there is a scene towards the middle of the film that is not right, the sequence is not right. Great they said, Thanks for that, we will rectify it. They gave me some free tickets for another event, which was cool!

Photo By Andreas Greiner courtesy of Pinterest

Andreas Greiner is a Berlin based artist who works with bacteria, as for example in his work 'Roundabout' a gyroscope sculpture that when moved spins a cube containing bioluminescent bacteria to create a natural glow. The photographs entitled 'Entladung' are a series of explosions see pic above that took place in different parts of Berlin between 2012-2013; 'Flygate' depicts a machine that lets flies get out of the room through a motorised gate managed by a camera sensor. He takes photographs of chickens, making portraits of them, including radiography images of their skeletons, DNA sequencing from a liver sample, and portraits of living entities.

Photo by Andreas Greiner  courtesy of http://www.andreasgreiner.com

These are entitled Studie (Portrait) zur Singularitat des Tieres and include pictures that range from microscopic algae to a rooster called Heinrich see pic above. Chickens are ancient birds in terms of evolution; nowadays, sadly, one associates them with mass production and consumption and fattening of the birds for their commercial value. It took him some time to find someone who gave him a chicken that had died in an industrial plant due to its rapidly  acquired body weight which had led to the chicken's legs breaking. He cleaned the chicken, froze it, and took it to a laboratory for a precise CT scan, thereby producing a final 3D model. The dead chicken had turned into a digital archive.

The live element of the exhibition performs, it is about time and space and the process of living. The works defy traditional sculpture, movement is an intrinsic part of them showing the abnormal life span of the industrial chicken. He has a keen interest in the microscopic world; he grows his own bioluminescent algae for use in his work see pic below. We use algae in food, in gardening. He is also trying to show  organisms as individuals, seen as distinctive subjects and not just as what they bring in terms of consumption for humans.

Photo by Andreas Greiner courtesy of Pinterest

The portrait series highlights the unseen, making visible something that is usually overlooked and taken for granted. A close bond between humans and one of the oldest living beings on the planet is suggested. His work requires specialised technology and working at close contact with scientists and different institutions. He utilises scientific methods combined with aesthetic vision. Examples of this  are his canvases that include bacteria cultures see pic below which are left to develop under natural processes, creating living artworks, which are open to different futures including unanticipated accidents.

Photo by Andreas Greiner courtesy of Pinterest.

He seeks to see beauty in the unexpected, in the unnoticed everyday, and his works make you think about the relationship between humans and other lifeforms on the planet; what are the boundaries between man & other living creatures? The human footprint is everywhere and is the overpowering creative force on the planet, impacting on other living creatures. Humans are now recreating nature and taking over from natural processes. He said in an interview: My view is rather characterised by my generation's estrangement from nature,  the dissolving border that man is creating between technology and nature.

In the exhibition at Dittrich & Schelechtriem entitled Hybrid Matter, this specific work looks at how humans manipulate and reconstruct nature through genetic engineering while speculating on the future of mankind's own genetic code. What is the essence of 'nature' in an age of digitalisation and synthetic biology? Nature has been modified by man - an example is genetically modified crops this showing human manipulation of nature for the benefit of humans.

Photo by Andreas Greiner courtesy of Dittrich -Schlechtriem Gallery.

The first thing one sees in the exhibiton is Replicating Seed which shows cell division. This is followed by Edit Yourself KIT. Also in the main room is: The Molecular Ordering of Computational Plants created in collaboration with Tyler Friedman, who worked on the music and text.

Along the walls are a new series of photographs showing magnified microscopic cellular clusters, cancer tumour cells, and syntethic bacteria created by the Craig Venter Institute. As with the pictures of chickens these are considered to be portraits in their own right.
http://www.dittrich-schlechtriem.com/exhibitions/hybrid-matter/

Karine Maussiere's polaroids exhibition till 5th June at Galleria Gallerati, Rome + Francis Alys on walking.

In this exhibition there is a selection of Karine Maussiere's polaroids at Galleria Gallerati in Rome. These are minimalist, the individual pictures combine to produce a sense of the infinite. Her working practice is about walking so as to absorb the landscape around her.

Photo by Karine Maussiere courtesy of  http://www.karinemaussiere.com/

The polaroids, which are small and pale, give you a sense of the calm and sublime. In the exhibition in Rome at Galleria Gallerati titled Hyberborees, Water, and Mountains, Flowers the horizon is seen as an open space, the surrounding landscape to be taken in, nature as sublime, intangibly calm. Sometimes nature envelops, sometimes - in the case of the mountain peaks - it makes you giddy due to their height.

Photo by Karine Maussiere courtesy of  http://www.karinemaussiere.com/

Photography here is used as detractive, in a zen way to actually accentuate the beauty of the landscape. She combines this with the walking to create gaps between the images. These gaps represent a fraction of displacement. The images are then reassembled to give a high of the subliminal landscape. The images together make you think of a log book, a diary of her journey across the landscape, creating a story, a narrative, through reassembled images. Taking a photograph as an act of truth but then reassembling the images makes you think  of the relation between memory and fiction.

Photo by Karine Maussiere courtesy of  http://www.karinemaussiere.com/

In the walk Le Temps en Friches, part of her residency in Instres in 2013, where she criss-crossed the GR2013 on the Western territory of the sea of Berre, she observes the changes taking place in this territory. This area experienced its economy based on traditional activities such as managing the salt marshes, and soda plants; this has been replaced over time by an industrial economy.

Photo by Karine Maussiere courtesy of  http://www.karinemaussiere.com/

Through her polaroids she observes the buildings left behind. With any one polaroid she does not show the whole building but selects a section of the building and combines the polaroids together to form one picture. She is interested in architectural heritage. Her walks are a journey of discovery. She uses the small format of Instant Mini and enjoys the instantaneous process of the polaroid which she feels accentuates the ghostly appearance of the buildings she encounters. The images, put together and carefully framed, create a process which reinforces the presentation of the unsympathetic impact on the landscape of the derelict buildings, which in fact are creating a wasteland. The detritus of civilisation.

Photo by Karine Maussiere courtesy of  http://www.karinemaussiere.com/

We might compare this with the work of Francis Alys (as both artists use walking in their practice), a conceptual Belgian artist, where he walked the streets of London, a busy urban environment, and took pictures showing a collection of neighbourhoods and a personal view of the city. His walks are transformational; the alien surroundings are turned into a space tailored to human dimensions, he maps the city through his walks. A walk is a complete action in itself and his walk changes the space. He is influenced by the Flaneurs and the Situationist and their free flowing approach. He uses photography to document the ephemeral. First the performance, then the photograph, a document that will continue the initial work inside the gallery, basically a photographic documentation of the original action. Like for example in Los Zapatos Magneticos 1994 see pic. below where he was walking the streets of  Mexico City with magnetic shoes and collecting coins along the way, the shoes represented recycling and they are a reflection on consumerism, the attraction of consumerism.

Francis Alys photo courtesy of Pinterest

Or for example his other work titled Paradox of Praxis 1 1997 see pic. below. In the photographs he is seen rolling a block of ice along the street for 6 or 7 hours till it melts, mimicking the work of the labourers in the city who spend most of their time pulling and pushing carts. The final result in both cases is the same, nothing to show for it because the ice has disappeared. Walking in this sense is a form of resistance as in our contemporary society all our technology and life is based on speed. Walking is immediate and anybody can do it,  there is nothing consumerist about it.

Francis Alys courtesy of Pinterest

He is a story teller. In other photographs you see him from afar or from behind. Another time he stood still in the middle of a square until a crowd formed around him,  people dash through the cityscape not really noticing their surroundings, but some of them stopped and engaged with him, the still figure in the middle of the square, and then he left. This shows that the engagement to other people in his work is important. His work is not fixed in one place, he has walked through several cities including London, Mexico City, Sao Paolo, Jerusalem and Copenhagen. He enacted the walks in different parts of London with a 5 year project for Artangel in 2005 observing the everyday, the inhabitants' daily rituals. The work came under the title of 7 Walks,  where he observed and engaged in everyday life. His action creates something from nothing. Performing his own futility and insignificance he creates a story. In one we see a photograph of him playing with a drumstick on the railings on a West London House see pic. below. another critique on the capitalist wealthy society obsessed with speed and achievement.

Francys Alys photo courtesy of Pinterest

There is organisation in this work unlike the Flanuers walks. He said to have been overwhelmed by the immensity of the city of London, the combination of old traditional ceremonies, like the changing of the guards, with technology and modern buildings, titled Guards 2004-2005 see pic. below. He uses a counter productive approach for example that of tapping the drumstick against the railing. He observed the increasing homogenisation of London and positioned himself as an actor, creating scenarios. See website: francisalys.com

Photo by Francis Alys courtesy of Pinterest

Into the Woods: Trees in Photography at the V&A, recommended.

In this free exhibition at the V&A, trees are being presented by different photographers from different periods. The pictures are mostly black and white photographs, but there are also some colour photographs by other well known photographers. In the older photographs the trees are pictured for their botanical interest; in the more recent ones it is their poetic symbolism that catches the eye & the mind.

Photo by Ansel Adams courtesy of Pinterest

In this blog I am not able to write about each individual photographer due to the wide variety of work on display. I will be highlighting some works only. The exhibition features both classic and contemporary images and depicts our relationship with trees over the years; it also highlights the development of photography during this time. Trees are shown as symbolic, as abstract, destined for destruction, for poetry; each photograph is individual, has an individual narrative. It also makes us think about the roles that trees play for us, for example absorbing pollution and cleansing our air, contributing to our  wellbeing.  We should not take them for granted. In the exhibition there are famous photographers such as Ansel Adams, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Agnes Warburg. There are also examples of manipulated photographs for example the 1839 photograph  by Johann Carl Enslen and recent works by Tokihiro Sato, titled ‘In the Forests of the Hakkoda Mountains’ see pic below. Trees offer an abundance of possibilities, their cycles changing with the seasons,  some wild, some cultivated. The pictures are often lyrical.

Photo by Tokihiro Sato courtesy of Pinterest

One work that stood out for me was the photograph by Tal Shoshat called ‘Rimon (pomegranate) Afarsimon 2011’ see pic. below, a tree ripe with fruits standing in front of a black background lit artificially. It isolates the tree from the landscape and presents it as a monument. It is a symbol of fertility and of endurance. The fruits are pomegranates, at their peak of their growing cycle. This made me think of an artificial garden of Eden, natural and fabricated at the same time,
not to be encountered in real life.

Photo by Tal Shoshat, courtesy of Pinterest

Tal Shoshat cleans the branches and leaves before shooting the photos and takes photographs of trees that grow in Israel. I found the work theatrical, different from all the other photos in the exhibition. It is one of the few colour photographs in the exhibition. Instead of taking a portrait of a person Shoshat takes one of a tree. I found it interesting that Tal Shoshat titled it Afarsimon

which in the Talmud & Midrash means balsam. The ancient Jewish community of Ein Gedi was cultivating it. It was considered to be very precious and used as an oil, the oil of persimmon. Persimmons are very rich  fruits cultivated in large numbers in Israel, the fruit is seen as a  symbol of fertility in many cultures.
Tal Shoshat’s photographs are about the contrast between reality and artifice, they question the honesty of photography as a documentary medium.

Photo by Robert Adams, courtesy of Pinterest

Another photograph I focused on was one completely different in meaning and in nature. This was by Robert Adams, titled ‘On Signal Hill Overlooking Long Beach California 1983’. This is in gelatin silver print on paper. Robert Adams photographic interest is in the connection between landscape & humans, and the impact that humans have had on the American landscape. The photograph in question is black and white. The trees are an image of nature as a whole. Taken on the outskirts of suburbia, they feel lost, fragile, thin, battered, and a reminder of what’s left of nature. The cityscape is suffocated by smog. It’s a powerful photograph showing the results of human activity on the environment. This is in contrast to the 19th century photographs of the American West,  for example by Timothy O’ Sullivan, which showed the American landscape as huge untouched spaces and still wild see pic below. 

Photo by Timothy O'Sullivan courtesy of Pinterest

Robert Adams instead is concerned with the destruction of nature. He transforms the pictures of the trees into a dying presence and rejects the conventions of beauty of the landscape of the 19th century photographers. The trees shown here appear exhausted by the interference of humans and their constant meddling with nature. His photographs are a living document of what is left of the natural world. It is an understated, alluding photograph that opens up a bigger narrative. He is a keen walker, like I am. Some of his greatest photographs have come out of his walking expeditions. Through his photography he depicts the everyday in life and the changes that nature is going through. In his series ‘Turning Back 1990-2003’see pic below, he was focusing on the destruction of the tall trees of the American North West where they used clearcutting despite opposition, and have substantially reduced the original forest. His work records the changes by man on the landscape and I think he grieves about the losses of trees.

Photo by Robert Adams courtesy of Pinterest

I also enjoyed seeing the photograph by Joseph Sudek titled ‘The Window of My Studio 1944-1954’ see pics below; he was also called the Poet of Prague. His photographs are evocative and poetic, and he took many shots from his studio. In this specific photograph he points at the communion between outside and inside, it’s a reflection on the two coming together, the exterior world and the interior world, the relationship between the real world and the mysterious.

Photo by Joseph Sudek courtesy of Pinterest

They are intimate photographs taken in his studio. He was fascinated with light and was a master at pigment printing and thus was able to create very atmospheric photographs, which make the viewer reflect. They are gentle. Few people appear in his pictures; he was considered to be shy and he only had one arm. Despite this he carried his own cameras and was a resilient character. He also took photographs of the wooden landscape in Bohemia. They remind me of romanticism, a period I have been looking to with my own work. He used the camera to explore Prague, and the world around him. Even when the city was ravaged by war he kept focusing on the everyday beauty of life. He used to take walks circling around the town. The resulting photographs came under the series titled ‘Prague Panoramic’ see pic. below.

Photo by Joseph Sudek courtesy of Pinterest

His photographs are intimate and haunting. He was badly injured during World War I.  I always admired his resilience and the way he pushed forward with photography in challenging times.  Sometimes he adjusted the camera using his teeth. I think he created his own style of romanticism. He creates a specific atmosphere in his photographs of his garden and his trees.  He kept taking pictures even when the Nazis were taking over Czechoslovakia, showing sad, melancholic photos of the city under occupation. His studio turned into a hub for other artists. He made use of a view camera which resulted in slow photography,  waiting for a long time before taking the image.

Photo by Jerry Uelsmann courtesy of Pinterest

Finally I liked the image by Jerry Uelsmann called ‘Untitled 1969’ see pic above.

He is interested in the surreal in photography, he creates fantasy scenes incorporating trees. He created this amazing photograph before the use of digital technology by using multiple negatives. We see a tree floating in air above the ground over a lake. It speaks to the viewer’s imagination calling him/her to complete the image. There is no one way of reading it. It takes a lot of skill & hard work to produce his photographs. He loves working in the darkroom. He is not restricted to one single negative.  His work requires skilled assemblage. The image is black and white, it’s a dreamscape with an open psychological meaning; he creates an alternate reality. His picture goes beyond actual landscape, it’s more a work of imagination and prompts the viewer to tap into the unconscious see pics below, it’s an emotional work away from the conceptual.

Photos by Jerry Uelsmann courtesy of Pinterest