Is Photography DEAD!!?!?

Well we have to start with that question…and it is a no…or is it a yes?

Certainly, it is an IDK, but when you break it down in the manner that most of these people have it is either a No or a kind of.

Thus what is problematic for me, is that I agree with everyone of them at the fundamental level, that photography is not dead as a medium and tool but certain forms are surely reserved for the level of hobby. This distinction is the point though when it comes to photography in our times, when borders of status are dissolving, to a degree.

I have to agree with my nemesis Walead, not because we are bound by blood lines, but because “when we ask the value of the term beyond its provisional utility, and moreover, when we ask these questions from the perspective of the maintenance of the disciplinary institution of art (pertaining to the taxonomic areas of study, and theoretical objects or objects of discourse) alluding to the need to reevaluate its parameters, we are implicating the categorical systems applied to all art objects, questioning the way medium specificity is applied on an institutional level.” It becomes more of a question pertaining to the system in which photography must reside and for me photography is not specific, it is mutated.

Overall though every person believes the photography of Robert Frank or Alfred Stieglitz is dead, the photography based in pictorial tradition is an after thought but is it? Really, the history of photography is younger than that of painting or sculpture, so frankly how can one really ask the question. We are a society seduced by the screen, in which photography is one of them, there will always be a love of it until we pass on into the digital void.

Now some serious writing…

What is problematic when asked this question is that it is bereft of any value to the consumer. This is only an important question because elder scholars raise it. But if we look back upon the history of photography as well as history in general we see the profound beginnings of capital ism, the rise of the bourgeois, thus the medium/tool is birthed by the very system which seeks to kill it, or may have already killed it. WE can look back upon this time period with clarity as a result of our entrapment within capitalism and realize time has been made cyclical, not in the sense we can travel forwards an backwards via Einstein’s Theories of Relativity, Special or General but that there are no signifiers within Images or even within everyday “life.” As a result history is now a monster which is continually growing like a malignant tumor, but without deliberation or inquiry to causality. The younger generations of artists and citizens of the world navigate the landscape with relative ease, moving in between topics with uncanny fluidity then why must photography be “dead,” obviously this stems from older generations grasp of the past. A requiem. I say let us weep for the elder photography but not spend too much time on the death of the styles of Alfred Stieglitz, Robert Frank, Sally Mann, so on and so on.

Un Homme et son Chien

Pat O’Neill v. Dum Dum Girls “Bedroom Eyes”

It’s a draw because both videos are sexual..

 

 

 

 

 

More digital madness…?

 

 

 

Just obligatory sharing of media….words will follow.

How much more blood must be shed…?

The week is ending very bloody here in America, does the movement finally have images of martyrdom…I say not yet…people have not died.

Though the true nature of what we are living under appears to be revealing itself, will the police continue be unleashed or will they bite man’s hand?

 

My Friend emailed me these questions. I think they express my work-thought-life.

i am putting together a series of interviews for myself/publication; just to have, just to ask questions, just out of curiosity. i know you would be doing me a favor in answering these but i am sure you are interested in saying some things about your creative self in creative ways. i have written many questions but answer as many as you’d like and if you go onto a tangent feel free not to digress. after that, i will reply with more questions hopefully getting you to scratch the itch in the first batch of questions. ( just to have a better dialogue). hopefully i become better as an interviewer.

When was the first time you received praise for your work – what was the praise and from whom?  For example, a crayon drawing you did when you were 5 and was put on the fridge by your parents.

Have you received a moment of transcendence or when was the last time you did? a moment when you had a thought beyond the parameters in which you originally saw the word….a eureka moment/not quite of body (i don’t believe in that, you may) but out of mind….something else?

motivation is hard to come by for some, what would your advice be for those that have talent but lack commitment? do you think of yourself as motivated? (so say that advice to yourself)

when/where do you work?

do you exercise/is physicality important for you work?

what does work mean to you. there are actors who research roles, miners who dig dirt, receptionist answer calls, doctors see patients/perform surgery, what is work to you?

do you have a routine? what is it?

do you get headaches if you don’t drink coffee? i know its some sort of withdrawal but man that sucks…

what does culture mean to you, and why is it important? in america, i get the feeling our culture is bankrupt, maybe its different in different regions but not a lot of people read, not a lot of people share pastimes (except sports, t.v.) yes. we have the wire and Seinfeld but the majority of the public do not absorb culture ( i, think.)

when are you afraid, what troubles you, do you get embarrassed? are you afraid to fail? socially? with your work?

thanks, take your time, dont, do it, please!

chris!

My response to his questions

Chris,

I think that the first time I received praise for any sort of creative work was as a child, I will obviously put an asterisk by that because the growth of a child is more important than giving a real critique to a child’s expressionist drawing…the notion of “my child could do that!!!” comes to mind in which I say fuck off to people but that’s completely something else. I think realistically when I started making art more seriously a la high school, well I received praise from teachers but the work was naive and cliche but I think I also limited myself, i wanted to make conceptual work as a teenager but took up too many activities…sports, girlfriends, idiocy instead of being obsessed with art like I am now.

I don’t think transcendence happens…or I haven’t come across it…you can’t transcend history.

haha, motivation is difficult sometimes, I’d say I’m pretty nihilistic so everyday is kind of a challenge to want to live, despite this I’m pretty vain and arrogant so I think I should be written into the annals of history. Nevertheless, motivation isn’t something forced…somedays I need to just lay around bask in my depression, play some video games or watch a film. I read a lot and look and deliberate on the world and all of its objects which furthers my curiosity resulting in motivation to make something interesting. Furthermore having talent but no commitment is a waste and you’re an asshole, people hope for talent…hope to be like Mike but it’ll never happen, I mean there is no unique experience of the world but nevertheless you shouldn’t attempt to be mimetic,employ any goddamn tactic you can!!! I think if anything look at Joseph Beuys..that guy was insane but his art practice was amazing.

Uhhh well I work at school a lot…if you’re talking about a wage I work in Bensenville drawing floor plans.\

Life is physical, we haven’t reached Digital Totality yet so yeah my work is physical, I think Jackson Pollack made great work because it was performance painting and and he just showed the product of this performance…when they tried to film it, it was a disaster and killed him. I make photograms and performance and video, I try to assess the world through the lense of philosophy, but as a condition of our growth as humanity we are trapped in the hyperreal…which I guess is assessed by Jean Baudrillard and many other post-structralists. I exercise via bicycling, walking and playing soccer.. but I haven’t had the time lately.

Work is everything and nothing, making art is work but I have fun doing it, I also work with my cousin rehabbing spaces which is work but I enjoy the primitive aspects of it. The negation of thought can be interesting some times and good for humans.

I try not to have a routine, just ebb and flow.. I don’t keep a date book or anything or make lists..its terrifying to plan my life concretely.

Eh, I get headaches from dehydration and stress and lack of sleep which I am feeling right now…3 hrs sucks. I’ll be passed out by 8 pm.

Culture is everywhere and I think by declaring American culture as bankrupt is kind of missing the point. We exist today in a world of empty signifiers which act as a vessel to place virtual meaning into, that is to say, meaning that has no origin or no indexicality; so I don’t think there is any sort of measure for culture…We live in a time of hyper-capitalism and objects are reproduced and perpetuated in similar forms. The Wire, Seinfeld, so on and so on are great examples of show but while aesthetically they do not measure up compared to say Jersey Shore or the Real Housewives, the simple fact that they were created means they were perceived as having some sort of cultural relevance no matter how obscene. Another thing to consider as just recently at the University of Chicago there was a symposium framing the Jersey Shore to post-structuralist philosophy i.e Foucault, Deleuze and so on. How those things are relevant to each other does not make sense to me but nevertheless they came together. Hopefully that is a decent account of the question.

I’m always troubled, depressed, angry which is a form of depression… and so on.. I have emotions that I can always control but I am not afraid of failure… John Cage or maybe it was Sol Lewitt said that in art their is never failure…there is never F in art only fART. But yes, I am afraid I will never be propelled to the heights of say…Andy Warhol… but was he not one of the great perpetuators of mass production and consumerism…so yeah..a death to culture and meaning.

Always love friend,

ART

Why Photography is still about Death, Now More Than Ever Before! Among Other Things

As I sit here, writing these very words at a Starbucks I cannot help but think what is there left for us, why do we even bother continuing this charade? These questions lay at the very surface of my consciousness because of the truly saturated world we live in today, a world which is purely artifice, full of empty signifiers. Thus the question then is “Has photography changed because of this,” which I answer with theoretically no it hasn’t. Physically, the world has changed greatly in the past 60 years and when it comes to photography it is no different but what hasn’t changed is photography’s deep seated connection with death.

The supposition when it comes to the photography’s form today is that of the ephemeral, the fleeting moments captured by the newest digital technology as opposed to the remembrance of the dead or the vacations of yesteryear through the physicality of the photographic negative. The former notion which has been seemingly championed by Lev Manovich, Jason Evans and Susan Murray relays the message of a truly democratized world, that is to say the borders between amateur, serious amateur and professional are no longer concrete. At the fundamental level this comes as a result of advances in technology allowing for access to cheaper camera products of better quality but to focus on this further it is the result of the continual miniaturization of technology that has made it easier for everyone and their mother to snap pictures. This point could be highlighted by Jason Evans speaking about his time working with on “Beauty Where You Find It” and “New World,” projects which were made in conjunction with a cosmetic corporation and a fashion studio respectively,  during both periods he worked with consumer level products to produce the images required.  “The new technologies gave me license and encouraged me to deliberate less about whether or not to actually take a picture.” Currently, does the camera not act as an extension of the body as never before as humanity is now allowed a continual stream of consciousness, an idea embodied further by Facebook’s creation of the real-time newsstream as well as twitter, and Flickr photostreams.  Each subject uploads their images into the network to build a presence with it and maintenances it throughout their lives as progressing autobiographies but through this act they are hoping for the defiance of death and simultaneously reinforcing that there is still is a physical death to fear and they must be written into the annals of history. Another example is Murray’s anecdote concerning the “Doors and Windows in Decay,”  a group consisting of every picture uploaded onto the Flickr site containing the aforementioned subject matter, this continued deployment of imagery pertaining to the breakdown of physical matter no less describes both the fascination of death and that the subject must remember it is dying.

What photography has manifested itself as today is a further confrontation with death as well as the Digital totality and totality of capitalism. Citizens of Western society must deal with the constant barrage of imagery, that is the continual ad stream around them by looking for the banal minutia, nevertheless the ability to self publish oneself to “X” audience members around the globe allows for one to place themselves within the abstract history book called the worldwide web. This instance of striving to be remembered and validated instantly by surpassing the traditional channels of historicization support the subjects urge to remain alive or to repel death. Evans points to his 34,000 visitors per month as indicative of this new process as well as the new ephemeral quality of photography made by internet sites such as his “WWW.TheDailyNice.com.” What I find peculiar is the possible exploitation of the audience through his sites parameters, he states “When it’s gone, it’s gone,” but what must be taken into account is whether the image is truly gone for Evans too. If Evans is to ascribe to the “democracy” of the virtual space then through an act of solidarity the images must be erased from his possession as well, otherwise is this not an act of benevolent tyranny, as well as the nullification of the new principles of photography “the ephemeral.” While I certainly agree with the notion that perpetuation of images leads to its symbolic death, is this not then a continuation of the old philosophy of the rare and precious object?

Another factor that must be taken into account is that of free use of images and information, as Susan Murray relays, “Popular photography magazines suggested to amateurs that they could make money by selling their photos to advertisers looking for images of domestic happiness,”  what has become truly lost in this “democratization” of images are the demarcated lines between both “producer” and “consumer” as well as “producer” and “product.” In our times of wrangling with the poor economy and protecting the “job creators,” we have lost the ability to discern where we begin and end. That is to say for example, the sale of identities to third parties by Facebook, we are able to function within the society but at the cost of being resold. What is problematic is this perfect crime

Furthermore, the perceived populist movement of the art world through site such as flickr, thedailynice.com and so on is truly an exaggeration of the made by Evans as well as Susan Murray though I will touch on her views later, quite what Evans attribution of statistics to a creation of populism are beyond me because there seems to be no clear indication of subjectivity on the Internet anymore. Amir Zaki states, “…one could stand on a freeway overpass holding up a large photograph during rush hour and could have an incredibly large audience. But what does that mean?” through this transference of imagery, does the audience take the moment to deliberate or is it a continual stream of images akin to a television. In addition, the ability to reach nearly any human on planet Earth is not a causality for the demolition of exclusivity as there are still insurmountable  quantities whom may never have access to the Internet or furthermore see TheDailyNice.com. What seems lost on Evans is that while Western society need not struggle with issues of access to very basic things such as water, food, shelter, internet, and other forms of communication, these very things could be taken away from them or access would be a lot more difficult to gain, this is the cliff that current society is leaning off of and thus to attribute populism with the democratization of images is to profess we are no longer free and that we are no longer citizens of any given state but that of a system which has no borders.

What must be remembered is that these sites whether they be Kevin Beck’s  photo sets, Flickr’s blog or Tiny Vice’s digital gallery, are still mediated in some manner and act as a sort governing hierarchy within this photographic realm. What is missing with the digital galleries is the ability to monetize art in the same way the galleries within “the real” do. (At the time of reading Tiny Vice’s was no longer open for submission thus returning to exclusivity; also we must consider that there is money to be made from this site via print sales, photo books and so on, which places them within the fold of the traditional art space and market.)These “real” galleries give the Artist its essence, its point of being to elevate it from simply producing as a “hobby” into the realm of “profession,” as well as differentiate photography between virtual reality and the current reality of objecthood. Likewise this democracy act with impunity towards photography as well as its own subjects which results in only in primitive action or a symbolic thumbs “up” or “down” and no deliberation to further the action. Despite this, the Internet has taken on the ideas of both pilgrimage and printing press in that one no longer is excluded from the quality and quantity without having to make the journey to any institution. Nevertheless this bypass of the ritual creates a void in the artwork, in that it loses its experiential qualities.

I keeps it Hyperreal….Weekend TAMMER!!

mmm on the topic of modern warfare video games…derp  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Argh…

Normally, I hate dubstep…but the geekiness was fully flared when I heard this.

 

 

Sigh. Derision

This goes out to my girl Whitney B!!!!! WHITNEY B IN DA HAAAAAUUUUUUUSSSSS

Play the video while you say the title…makes you feel like Flava Flav in an old Public Enemy song!

But in all seriousness…I had to post this one for Ms. Bradshaw

Mr. Boomtown…the new hype Williams.

What is most enjoyable is that after getting down to this I like to put on some Frederic Chopin or Richard Wagner. It is like a musical sorbet to cleanse the pallet.

But onwards we must go….

The Image is the Real.

It is interesting that the subjects of this weeks slew of readings pertain to a multimedia piece I am currently working on.

This concern with the real, I must cite Jean Baudrillard as an influence on my understanding and thought of the world we live in today. So while much of this information, line of thought is not new to me, nevertheless it is good to read different points of view.

Thus I turn my attention to Corey Dzenko’s Analog to Digital, not to summarize what has been said but to critique it as a result of some of the statements made by him as well as the quotes used by other intellectuals. The main crux of the essay is to circumnavigate the apparent loss of indexicality that was ushered in by the digital age and focus more on the positive applications of the new technological uses of the medium. Dzenko goes lengths to validate these notions with anecdotes of the work of Kerry Skarbakka, “In ‘Stairs,’ the artist appears to fall towards the camera lens, and the viewer, from the corner  of a L-shaped stairway banister as he reaches his left arm toward the viewer and readies his body for his landing. On Failblog.org, one viewer commented, ‘Ouuchh!!!He surely hurt himself!!!’ Another posted, ‘I think there’s also implicit fail in how his friend is photographing this instead of helping him.’ Though Stairs was created with digital technology and viewed as a digital image once posted to Skarbakka’s artist website or to FailBlog.org, viewers may still read these images as representing actions that occurred in reality. The photographic appearance of Skarbakka’s images, the tradition of transparency within lens-based media, and the context surrounding the images display, impacted viewers’ reception of these images more than theories of digital photography’s lack of indexicality,” yet are these not symptoms of the movement from a Real we have always known to the virtual reality? Furthermore, are the acceptance of images such as Skarbakka’s also symptomatic of the lack of questioning of authenticity by mainstream culture? In questioning the authenticity, I will concede that it is not a symptom of just our digital age that we question what is framed by the camera but that capture of a moment in time is problematic for its lack in the experiential. Any example could be used but it may be that photographs of the horrors of the world are the easiest to use, because the target audience is usually distanced from subject. Long ago, then, the indexicality was lost not as a result of the change of photographic materiality but because humanity had entered a new phase after the Second World War and the beginning of hyper-capitalism. It is this notion that is central not only to the understanding of the death of photography but to understanding the trajectory in which humanity will take; just as God was deemed dead by the nihilists so too then must we mark the death of reality in which we once knew.

So what is there then? The Real is now that of the Virtual, the image without the index just as there is war without war. Dzenko examines the TeleGarden project with some glee as a social project in which the lone person could take part in the care of a garden somewhere far, far away. This could be deemed as the arrival of the first virtual voluntary labor, what would come next… Farmville, Cityville, etc and this is what is truly lost as a result of the digital era, the curiosity in farming with out farming (without the pains of labor, environment,) or to use the marketing of the recent video game, Battlefield 3, “Is it Real?” Surely, a citizen of our society could easily discern that this is but a video game and that they are not truly taking part in a battle with true human costs?

Though what is alarming is the expansive craving of creating a large social network, what Facebook attempts to do, the possibility to know anything or anyone while simultaneously accepting that as the Real, as these people as truth without the indexicality. In addition, it is to accumulate people as commodity or numbers while any company can access the constructed identity one has created on this network.

I believe that this is what cultural theorists of Western society denigrate about the digital era, on the one hand because they have lived through the previous periods in human history but also because it has allowed for the new generations of humanity to crave for the horrible experiences in which they could not truly comprehend without the consequences as such. It is to this point that I believe, Dzenko is somewhat naive, because long ago indexicality of images died when photographic practices used the tool for creating works that referenced the urge to escape the horrors of the world. Now that society craves the disaster a la Michael Bay or Roland Emmerich, the urge to experience the fantastical to escape the banal minutia of their lives there is nothing left but this new Real, to replicate the perceived lives of ordinary people on camera yet it is no more theatrical than a Hollywood production. This is inherent of our society and what steps are taken to reconcile it or surpass it are infinite…

I think that is why I would like to host a film screening of the Tree of Life and Melancholia, to juxtapose the hopefulness and the belief in god against the absurdity of life itself.