Death & Destruction - Sarah Charlesworth

Sarah Charlesworth was born in 1947 in East Orange, New Jersey. She went to Barnard College where she received her BA and lived and worked in New York City. She died in 2013 of a brain aneurysm.

Charlesworth is a conceptual artist who looked at the photograph and "it's ability to deconstruct our shared symbols and public images in ways that articulate and question the values and beliefs of our culture." (artspace.com). Her website is clean and crisp. The home page was minimal, alongside an image from her Natural Magic series, only contacts for her estate and gallery business inquiries were available. The menu tabs were categorized with a section for each relevant topic.The website did not have an artist statement, so I took it upon myself to do extra research to understand her work and her life.

I was thoroughly impressed with the amount of work that was displayed, all of her works clearly organised. Each was broken up by years of the body of work, but also had the option of looking at everything at once. Some of her works had a shot text "about" the piece. I feel conceptual art is at times hard to grasp, so having a starting point is helpful in looking at and dissecting the work. My only issue was that not all of her bodies of work had an "about" text and half of the bodies that did, didn't have functioning text. Instead I was stuck with an unloaded image icon where the text should be.

The video explaining the story behind The Jumping Man, was the most relevant to that specific image.This work relates closely to that of the iconic 9/11 image of The Jumping Man. Unlike the images from Stills, the outcome and intention of the jumper is very well known. This type of image is iconic in the fact that as stated by the artists "it was the only photo that showed the death of our people that day". The image was quite, but powerful. Though it showed no gore, it became infamous. The Jumping Man is also a very relatable image because the viewer can put themselves in the situation and see that as a potential choice and rationalization behind the decision given the circumstances. The images from Stills are less static in the motions of the jumper, but they still convey a similar image without the backstory. They show a defining moment.

Charlesworth is most known for her Modern History which consists of enlarged images of newspapers with everything but the images and headlines removed. This work is still relevant to today in regards to how we as viewers, and the media itself ,documents and remembers war/crime/and headlines, but few details.

Questions: How do you feel the media portrays war/death/destruction news in the contemporary/present day?

Commerce and Economics - Jesse Burke

Jesse Burke
Commerce and Economics

by David Kieckhefer

Jesse Burke divides his time between personal art projects and commissioned work. His work deals with themes related to vulnerability and identity, as well as human's complicated relationship with nature. Burke received his MFA from Rhode Island School of Design, where he is a faculty member. Burke's work is held in private/public collections including the Museum of Contemporary Photography Chicago, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the North Carolina Museum of Art, and the Rhode Island School of Design Museum. He was recently named one of Time Magazine’s top 50 US photographers to follow on Instagram.

Buy Wild & Precious here for $50

Burke's Wild & Precious is work from a series of road trips traveled over 5 years with his daughter Clover to explore the natural world. Each image is named after a song that Johnny Cash wrote or recorded. His music and lyrics were a big part of their collective experience while on the road. The goal of Wild & Precious is to encourage parents and children to spend time together connecting with the natural world.

Watch a film on Wild & Precious here.

Intertidal

Intertidal is an investigation into the delicate balance that exists between the heroic idea of masculinity and the true reality of men. It explores the presence of vulnerability and sensitivity that act as forces against the mythology of male dominance and power.

Father

Gladiator

Open Country

Flannel

Blind

Blind explores the complexities of the awkward, beautiful, and romantic relationship we share with nature. It looks at concepts such as death and power, fragility and vulnerability, identity, mutability and camouflage through the lens of hunting.

Hidden

Shell

Drake

Jack

Low

Low explores the world of inner demons and displaced persons.

"Beautiful light is born of darkness, so the faith the springs from conflict is often strongest and the best." 

- Robert Turnbull Life Pictures: From a Pastor's Notebook 1857

Maxim Montagno

Clarence Momolu

Steve Tsang

Yannick Jolin

Death / Destruction - Joel-Peter Witkin - The Still Life

Joel-Peter Witkin 

Allison Krenz

Flowers, feathers, monkeys, centaurs, corpses... these are just a few things one sees in a still life by Joel-Peter Witkin. Steeping in art history, Witkin builds scenes that are somewhere between a dream and a nightmare.

Many of us avoid the subject of death. Most of us have a healthy fear of dying, but we choose to avoid the topic because it is something we cannot begin to understand. We can see others die, but until we experience it ourselves, it is up to our imaginations to think of what comes after. What Witkin does is embrace what others choose to turn away from. He looks death in the eye (sometimes quite literally) and then shows us what he sees.

He shoots his elaborate scenes as sketches, carefully choosing which objects are included. He then gathers his supplies and builds his visions into reality. All of his work post-process is done in the dark room. According to his biography published by the Museum of Contemporary Photography, he ages his photos through physical manipulation of the medium. Perhaps it's this aggressive approach to the creative process that makes his images feel so real, even though the imagery is straight from Witkin's imagination.

Witkin currently draws inspiration from the deserts of New Mexico. Much of his symbolism comes from the culture of the South West, and while he still produces work today, much of it feels as old as time itself.

Death/Destruction - Propaganda

by Lainey

In the Canva article, "50 Powerful Examples of Visual Propaganda and the Meanings Behind Them", the viewer explores an array of propagandistic artwork created between World War I and the present day. Author Caitlin Jordan comments on the often negative reputation the word "propaganda" has, concluding that propaganda can have the power to convey positive messages and encourage change. 

The article opens up with an image of Uncle Sam; 

"What’s now regarded as the most famous poster in the world, the I Want You poster first appeared on the cover of Leslie’s Weekly on July 6, 1916 (as the United States was entering World War I) with the title, What Are You Doing for Preparedness? The poster showed Uncle Sam pointing directly at the viewer, compelling them to action."

The rest of of the article follows the same format. The image descriptions are concise, and the design minimalist. From anti-nazi to Rosie the Riveter, a selection of (mostly wartime) propaganda is featured. 

"This simple poster from the Second World War sent the clear message to the civilians of the Allied Powers that Hitler’s Germany had means of listening into their communications."

    I have always been interested in activist and propaganda artwork, so I found the article interesting and enjoyed learning more about influential propaganda. The format of the website itself wasn't something I enjoyed, because  I couldn't read about the image and study it. I think the images the author chose were effective in introducing the viewer to propagandistic art and made a great point in saying that not all propaganda is negative.

Questions for class:
Do you think propaganda has the potential to be positive?
Do you think the image has more power over the text in propagandistic art? Or vice versa?

Death/Destruction - International Center of Photography

International Center of Photography

By Mandy Litwin

The International Center of Photography is an internationally well-known and highly respected organization. Essentially, their goal is to keep photography and visual culture alive. They do this in several ways. One way is through the exhibitions that are always taking place at their museum in Manhattan, New York. Another way is through the use of their website.

The ICP also contributes money to the community and education. They offer various workshops and classes for people to come learn about art! In addition, they also host the Infinity Awards which is an event that continues “honoring outstanding achievements in photography and visual arts”. It first started in 1985 and is still continuing annually today.

The website is set up as a great resource and archive of hundreds of thousands of photos and their respected artists. The website is easy to use and very efficient when it comes to searching for new material to research. With their browse feature, it is easy to trickle down to an exact search in an attempt for anyone to search for something specific.

One example of an artist I had not known before by using their search engine is Lewis Baltz. He was a visual artist who is well known for his work in the New Topographics Exhibition that took place in 1975. His work, along with others, is minimal. It aimed to capture a “man-altered landscape”, much different than the natural landscapes we recognize from Ansel Adams. The project made a great impact with its simplified aesthetic of the space. People are still trying to emulate this style to this day and keep their work alive.

Park City, interior, 38

Questions for the class:

Have you ever used ICP as a resource?

If so, what is your experience with it?