Closing TODAY: June 6, 11-4pm
One Hour Photo, curated by Adam Good, Chajana denHarder, and Chandi Kelley, closes today at the Katzen in Washington, DC. Quoting from the website, “[t]he premise of One Hour Photo is simple: project a photograph for one hour, then ensure that it will never be seen again… Each work will exist only in the limited moments of perception, in the individual and collective experience, then memory, of the observers.” In conjunction with this project, Larissa Leclair asked each photographer to respond to the same three questions – describe the photograph in three words, talk about the selection process, and thoughts on letting go of the image. The photographers’ responses have been posted throughout the exhibition on the day their photograph was projected at the Katzen – 26 days, 128 photographers. See the schedule of photographers here. The photographers’ responses may provide a glimpse of the projected image, but they also reveal something about the photographers themselves. The last five photographers are Penelope Umbrico, Clayton Cotterell, Matthew Gamber, Ann Woo, and closing out the exhibition is Ruben Natal-San Miguel. Curator talk and discussion today at 2:30pm. Come and say farewell.
11-noon: Penelope Umbrico
Describe the photograph selected for One Hour Photo in three words:
used photo labs
How does one go about selecting a photograph that is good enough for an exhibition but that can never be seen again?
The images I used for my piece in One Hour Photo already exist elsewhere, in some form, on the internet, and given the nature of the types of images, and the nature of the internet, I have unlimited access to new or similar versions of them, that represent the same thing. In contrast to the idea of the photographic edition (where each singular material print is the same as the others in the edition but limited in number), the mutability, ubiquity and replacability of digital images allows for a kind of regeneration to take place. It doesn’t matter if the specific arrangement of images that make up my piece are never seen again, because the work can be thought of as one moment in the life of an ever changing fluid project – an ongoing process of accumulation, re-combination, recontextualization, regeneration.
What are your thoughts on letting go of this image?
I asked these questions: Is the forced act of absence or erasure in a digital context inherently antithetical to digital representation, or as an artificial construct imposed on an digital image, could it point to fundamental issues inherent in digital representation? does it question what it is we ask of digital representation?
So I didn’t think of it as letting go, but as a staged act that addresses some issues to be worked out – specifically, in my mind at the moment: the oddly dialectical paradox of a kind of presence of digital form (in its infinite multiplicity, synchronic ubiquity, and ephemeral immateriality) vs and a kind of non-presence of material form (in its finite singularity, immutability and localized specificity).
Website: http://www.penelopeumbrico.net/
12-1pm: Clayton Cotterell
Describe the photograph selected for One Hour Photo in three words:
engagement, disengagement, construct
How does one go about selecting a photograph that is good enough for an exhibition but that can never be seen again?
I made my piece specifically for the show with an image I knew I wouldn’t use anywhere else.
What are your thoughts on letting go of this image?
The image began to grow on me after making it, but lead to others working with a similar idea. I’m ok with letting it go.
Website: www.claytoncotterell.com
1-2pm: Matthew Gamber
Describe the photograph selected for One Hour Photo in three words:
It is erased
How does one go about selecting a photograph that is good enough for an exhibition but that can never be seen again?
Some photographs exist as outliers, or as transitions between projects. However interesting these images might be, they are often never seen by others.
What are your thoughts on letting go of this image?
If we did housecleaning more often, we might be able to reduce our personal collections to the ones that are most important to us.
Website: www.matthewgamber.com
2-3pm: Ann Woo
3-4pm: Ruben Natal-San Miguel
Describe the photograph selected for One Hour Photo in three words:
Absence Presence & 9/11 victims
How does one go about selecting a photograph that is good enough for an exhibition but that can never be seen again?
It was not easy. This photo in particular in my opinion, can not be part of any of my current series, it is a random one, strong and needs to be shown by itself so, when you see it you reflect on it and not be distract by anything else but, the words and its message.As a curator of many shows, I thought right away that was perfect for the show theme and was very happy how well it has been received as part of it. Sometimes, it is good to part with things you love the most…
What are your thoughts on letting go of this image?
Do you miss me? (image title) The presence and the absence. Here today ….gone Tomorrow. Life is short, live it to its fullest.
Website/Blog: http://artmostfierce.blogspot.com/
THE END