The human being is the highest achievement of form following function. Every fundamental truth of physics realized. Even though the ghost is aware of the machine, it still struggles to understand it. It even debates whether a separation even exists. Each cell organized to a specific end, specialized to perform complex recognition, as well as simple run of the mill “don't die” functions. Together the cells are strong, and together they can organize into the most simple forms of life to a complex concoction we call “us.” To think that all this came from a simple agreement between cells not to eat each other, to let down external barriers, and take the chance that neither cell was holding a gun under its membrane. Chemical signals, action potentials, the simultaneous breakdown and build up of matter, all we aspire to create we already are.
Expression though art is just another method for finding ones
place in the grand scheme of things. Artists champion different mediums much
the same way philosophers and theologians champion doctrine and schools of
thought. I have spent a good deal of time mimicking reality by drawing, painting,
abstracting, designing, tra la la… but of all mediums, the photograph captures
pieces of stark reality. Though I actively participate in the expression,
I am only recording, assisting in a biological biography. The body speaks
a language that is complex and beyond total (or even partial) comprehension.
I love photography because at the end of the day I am reading a book, not
writing one. With painting I am the author, commenting about whatever seems
important to me at the time, but as a photographer I get to sit back and read,
making simple liner notes every now and then. When thinking in this mode there
is no such thing as art, the elusive definition dissolves, the controversy
evaporates, and "art" becomes synonymous with exploration.
Art imitates life, and life imitates art. The focus of this series is the body as canvas instead of the body on canvas. I am attempting to photograph events, groups of actions and their reactions recorded by the movement of the body. Millions of missed opportunities, and likewise millions of captured interactions that were never intended. That is the beauty of photography. I don't have intend… the interactions are there without my permission. The "artistic control" is surrendered to Nature.
This series is based on the time honored tradition of figure photography but with an added element, acrylic paint. The paint acts to abstract a familiar form. This layer allows us to take more time observing what has always been there. The paint gives the viewer more incentive to make their eye stay for a while, like something shiny to a raccoon. If any of the images manage to confuse you, if you find yourself stopping for a moment and asking yourself, "wait a minute, is that a knuckle or a knee, or possibly the top of a shoulder blade" Then the photograph is working.
Skin has different textures for different functions; the top
of the hand has an unmistakable lattice very different from the soft features
under the arm. The energy released by a moving arm replicates patterns of
lightening, roots, and rivers. Though these movements happen every second
of everyday, they don't become visible until the skins elasticity is impeded.
Once stressed the paint explodes into raging storms. The resulting pattern
is part of natural language. These are the visible equations.
Can an arm rotating share scientific similarities to shattering mirror? They
do employ similar forces of nature. Some pieces taken with a macro lens become
relatives to the surface of Europa, or the Sahara. A knuckle bears resemblance
to the hide of an elephant, or even a map of a city's electrical grid. Though
these things are generally nothing you reconcile as having great similarities,
they are all subject to the same physics, and the same expression. So it becomes
natural for us to realize that we organize as we were organized. Logic is
not a human invention, but it was present in the invention of human.
So feel free to take from this whatever you can. Allow yourself to question your concepts of being human. Think about the laws that govern you. See the vast differences and the striking similarities between yourself and your environment. Ask yourself if you connect to the models as a human or as biological system. Do you see their personalities, their aspirations, their credit card debt? Do you see yourself and your skin? The photography won't change your life, or change your view of the world. But it might be nice to escape our necessary reality for a few moments and focus on pieces of another reality. Besides that is what art is supposed to do, right?
