American
artist Aitken is probably best known for his work with video, and the
characteristics that define that medium are apparent within New Opposition. The photographs do not
work as self-sufficient one-off frames but rely on each other for meaning. The
optical tricks that the landscapes form when placed together give the
impression to the viewer that they are either falling into the centre of the
earth of are on top of it looking down as if from the apex of a pyramid. This
active involvement by the viewer and the three-dimensional sculptural
sensations of the photographs can also be seen in the elaborate installations
that often accompany his videos. – Text and images from Susan Bright Art Photography Now
‘The
series New Opposition consists of three pieces and was started in 2001. I was
interested in the fragmentation of the image. I wanted to formulate an image
that was whole but also broken apart. So these are multiple images working as
one. I wanted to find a way to blend together different moments in time,
different spaces and different locations. I wanted to bring them together in a
central unifying image. They are not portraits or cityscapes but more an
entropic progression. As the series progresses it becomes increasingly
abstracted and denser and you get a sense of motion. The elements in the last
image are ones you might just walk past in daily life – there is nothing
special about the land. You can imagine someone who is surveying the land
taking them. I really like the idea of banality and repetition being used to
generate images, which are simple and unobstructed and not captivated by
composition.
The images create a cycle of different places, but
they can all be tied together though the central unifying theme of the horizon,
which cuts, perpendicular, through them. I was after a three-dimensional
quality. Working as well as the ideas of montage and editing, basically filmic
concepts, as in repetition. I wanted the eyes to constantly search for the
horizon. When the images are brought together they collapse and create a
feeling of retreating or expanding.’ – Doug Aitken
No comments:
Post a Comment