Category: Exhibition

The Final Exhibition Critique

Rachel Bush / / Exhibition

To plan for this exhibition the three of us bought disposable cameras. We then gave ourselves four or five days to go around Lincoln taking pictures that were in line with the theme of ‘Disposability’. This was a good idea as it meant that we had three different approaches to the theme which created a greater variety in the photos we produced. One of us went to a rubbish dump and investigated the various items there. Another interpretation in the group was passing fads in pop culture such as minions and “Live Laugh Love” signs. A larger proportion of the photography depicted seasonal clothing lines as well as closed down shops with “SALE” signs plastered to the windows. We met up a few times during this period to discuss how best to present our work. We toyed with the idea of putting the photos in waste paper basket bins mixed with other pieces of paper in order to emphasize the theme of disposability. However, we felt that this was overly literal and unnecessary. As well as this, the space we had booked was very large – meaning that three bins would look rather out of place and awkward. We then came up with the idea of clipping the photographs to a wire and eventually decided to include ourselves in this exhibition by tying these wires to ourselves. Wrapping the photos around us was meant to further enhance the view that aside from material objects, we ourselves are also disposable and finite. It also conveys the idea that we are bound by the disposable aspects of society and can be interpreted as far as climate change. On the day of the exhibition we pegged the individual photos to a washing line and got into a triangle formation. The weather made things a little more difficult as the pictures got blown around a lot but this was something we had anticipated, especially when we had chosen the location of a rooftop. The tutors were very happy with the exhibition upon arrival and we felt that we had done well to creatively interpret our theme and thus the exhibition. Despite the fact that we were all satisfied by the outcome we felt that there was still room for some improvements. As we were exhibiting in quite an open space we felt that we could have used this more effectively by perhaps adding more decoration around the area or decorated ourselves a little more so we were wearing the same clothes or attached bin liners to ourselves so we would blend in better with the theme of the exhibition, We had also initially printed posters however we did not have the time or the resources in the morning to stick them up in order to professionalize the experience a little more but we feel that this factor did not detract too much from the impact of the exhibition as a whole.

Here is the video of the experience:

 

Research From The Group

Rachel Bush / / Exhibition, Recent Post

When we first knew that our project would be about the theme of ‘Disposability’ we wanted to see what inspiration we could take from other photographers which would help inspire our projects. Therefore it was only upon Benedikt Partenheimer’s work that I first had the idea to display our exhibition on a rooftop. Partenheimer uses his images to express the ultimate feeling of perspective on a landscape or event. The distance of which he takes his photographs helps to emphasize the feeling he wants you to draw from the event, in a similar feeling to what we want to achieve by hosting our exhibition on a rooftop. It was in his projects ‘Particulate Matter’ and ‘Expiration’ which were real inspirations to me. Expiration explores the abandoned, the destroyed and the discarded objects of abandoned houses or locations and I felt these resonated completely with our project. This was what inspired me to get the core sources for my work from the waste site where people had left perfectly usable items but simply discarded them for a more ‘modern’ upgrade.

2016-03-182016-03-18 (1)2016-03-18 (2)I found that in his later work from the ‘Particulate Matter’ project where he would take images of polluted areas of the environment and manipulate perspective to his own advantage, was also quite an inspiration. It was the way he used the fog and the natural air to create the impact of the images, with the environment below simple acting as a tool to highlight the real meaning of the photograph which was the pollution. I was, therefore, hoping that by hosting the exhibition on a space that was isolated and almost disconnected from society it would not only act as a way that the audience could easily disconnect themselves with the outside world and focus souly on that which was in front of them but also the distance and height would compliment each other in a way that Partenheimer’s work has.

Stephen Gill

Another artist we researched was Stephen Gill. He has previously stated that “In the late ‘90s and early 2000s the idea of quality and technique became so important” with conversations about photography revolving around technicalities such as megapixels. This drove him to challenge these ideals and thus use very unconventional techniques in his photography. Because of this, Gill seemed like a good artist to research as the ideas behind our own exhibition were driven by a desire to create something unorthodox. As well as this, photo quality and the relevant terminology where very far removed in our exhibition as we used disposable cameras.

One of Gill’s most notable projects titled “Buried” involved burying multiple images in Hackney, where they had also been taken. The results of this piece varied as each image had a different aberration from its time in the damp soil. For me, this was much more interesting to look at than technically perfect images as these deteriorating visuals seemed to come to life. On the topic of this project, Gill noted that “Not knowing what an image would look like once it was dug up introduced an element of chance and surprise which I found appealing.” Gill also discussed that this project evoked a sense of “letting go and collaborating with the place”. This rings true as the pictures certainly were shaped by the location they were taken. Furthermore, the concept of not knowing how a photograph will turn out is something that attracted the group to disposable cameras. This method prevents the photographer from spending hours on a subject trying to get it perfect, perhaps avoiding the sense of “sterility” that Gill often refers to in modern photography.