WSJ Article: Where Painting and Photography Blur

Article: Where Painting and Photography Blur
By: Richard B. Woodward
Link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323777204578191720734339006.html

Quick, interesting article. Artists mentioned include Wade Guyton, Gerhard Ricther, Alfred Leslie, & James Welling.

"Several New York shows in the past six months indicate that painting and photography remain locked in an uneasy, codependent relationship but have also learned to feed off each other in the digital era as never before."

"Debates about the sway of machines on picture making are not new. Nor are they ever settled. Photographers and paintings have borrowed freely from each other - there were hand-tinted photographs in the 19th century and photorealist painters in the 20th century - even as they struggled to establish their own artistic identity and supremacy."

Books on the reading table

Busy reading month!!!

For Research:

• Beckley, Bill. Sticky Sublime. New York: Allworth Press, 2001. Print.
• Hickey, Dave. Air Guitar: Essays on Art & Democracy. Los Angeles: Art issues. Press, 1997. Print.
• Beech, Dave. Beauty. London: Whitechapel, 2009. Print.

For Critical Theory 2:

• Merewether, Charles. The Archive. London: Whitechapel, 2006. Print.
• Perec, Georges, and David Bellos. Thoughts of Sorts. Boston: David R. Godine, 2009. Print.
• Spieker, Sven. The Big Archive: Art from Bureaucracy. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 2008. Print.

Consuming Paradise Time-Lapse Video

This is a recent project where I captured 11 hours worth of images (1 image every 20 seconds) outside the famous Ala Moana Mall on December 1st, 2012. In thinking about the consumption of "paradise" by both visitors and residents, I wanted to experiment with time-lapse video of the mall parking lot. It is also possible to make out the busy water traffic in the upper part of the frame which I feel works well with the idea of commercialization and consumption. The version below is a condensed video file of over 1700 images processed to fit within a minutes time-frame. The quality is poor when viewed full-screen so it's best to view it small.

Prints in Progress

Prior to leaving Hawaii, I spent much of December preparing final prints of night landscapes and final "anti-paradise" postcards for the upcoming January residency in Boston. Here are two photos showing various prints in progress. I love being able to use the Canon 8100 printer at the UH Pacific New Media print lab - such a valuable resource for local artists and students.

5x7 "Anti-Paradise" Postcards, double-sided

12x18 Night Landscapes Test Prints

Framing Paradise

Unfortunately, I only had about 15 minutes to check out this exhibit "Framing Paradise: Photography and Waikiki" before the UH gallery building closed. I must get back before the show ends on Dec 7! This subject matter is related to much of my semester focus. Luckily, I was able to check out he Daido Moriyama wing but hope to return to see the vintage postcard selection and archival photographs. Worth checking out if you are in the area and haven't seen the show yet!

Here's a blurb from the UH Manoa Campus Events Calendar:

http://www.hawaii.edu/calendar/manoa/2012/10/07/18791.html

"Millions of tourists flock to Waikīkī annually with cameras at-the-ready. Such travelers have been lured to and by Waikīkī for over a century—it is a place that has shaped the very idea of tourism. Early photographers snapped images of Waikīkī’s natural beauty, water sports, beaches, and cosmopolitan man-made structures. The amalgamation of these images created a visual mythology and iconography of Waikīkī that tourists sought to experience and capture for themselves. Through the medium of photography, "Framing Paradise: Photography and Waikīkī" explores interactions and encounters with Waikīkī.

"Framing Paradise: Photography and Waikīkī" features selections from "Hawaii," a portfolio by internationally recognized photographer Daido Moriyama, and from "Waikiki ’73," a portfolio by established Hawai‘i-based photographer Eric Yanagi, as well as over one hundred archival photographs taken by professionals and amateurs from the late 1800s to the mid-1900s. Written contributions by a number of local individuals bring a variety of voices and perspectives to the photographs on view. The education section of the exhibition provides visitors opportunities to compare significant events in the development of photography and Waikīkī."

Image from UH Manoa exhibition "Framing Paradise: Photography and Waikiki"

Reconciling Beauty with Criticality: New Landscapes

For December's paper, I was tasked with a semester summary. I've been thinking a lot about my night long exposure landscapes (beauty) and how these images might connect with my non-paradise postcard project (conceptual). Here is a written section pulled from my semester review:

In general, the long exposure night images range from abstract studies of luminosity and color to more precise renderings of Oahu’s coastline. For much of the semester, the long exposures felt like a separate project from the postcard series. However, over time, some connections between the two projects have emerged. For one, many of the most interesting long exposures are the ones that capture human-made light illuminating the water or skyline. The images that at first were made to represent a more authentic, pristine, or natural “paradise” are in fact affected by city lights, streetlights, or in some cases bold and direct ocean spotlights.  A number of images also display trails of light caused by air and water traffic. Is it possible that the strongest long exposures, both aesthetically and conceptually, are the ones that display the intersection of the natural environment with the artificial? Perhaps the “real” Hawaii is more accurately portrayed by the combination of its stunningly beautiful natural landscape amidst its manufactured counterpart? 

I am also interested in considering the long exposures as entirely separate entities from Hawaii. What potential do they hold in moving beyond the idea of paradise specifically in Hawaii and in instead representing larger ideas about human interaction within the natural landscape?

New Non-Paradise Postcards