Dunnico’s Reality TV
If we all had David Dunnico’s commitment to turning the cameras on the cameras, we’d surely short-circuit the CCTV culture to oblivion. The surveyor of surveillance has an exhibition opening at the Royal Exchange Theatre from 24 February to 27 March 2010. Opening night is on the 26th February at 5.30pm til 6.30pm and BlackLab aims to be there to give him our full support.
Dunnico will be showing ‘Reality TV’ alongside a new theatre production of George Orwell’s 1984 at the Mezzanine Gallery. Visit www.ddcc.tv for more information.
Remix: Rob Rusling’s Faith
The subject of Jackie Nickerson’s “Faith” is nuns and monks in Ireland who have devoted their life to their faith. The work explores the everyday lives of these people and an often homemade feel which characterizes their personal takes on their religion. The work questions what it takes to devote oneself to a life of solitude and routine on the basis of faith. The aesthetic style of her images seems to mimic the lives of her subjects; simple, soft, calm and silent – a considered approach to a considered lifestyle.
Simon Roberts ‘v’ Peter Bialobrzeski
Peter Bialobrzeski, Heimat 6, Nordsee 2003
Simon Roberts, West Wittering Beach Chichester, West Sussex 3rd May 2008
Peter Bialobrzeski, Heimat 20
Simon Roberts, Malvern Hills Worcestershire 17th May 2008
Peter Bialobrzeski, Heimat 21
Simon Roberts, Malvern Hills, Worcestershire, 17th May 2008
Peter Bialobrzeski, Heimat 31, Schwatzwald, 2004
Simon Roberts, Tandridge Golf Course Oxted, Surrey 2nd April 2008
Remix: Adam Wilson’s Uncommon Places
A couple of months ago, BlackLab were invited to run a series of workshops with Blackpool’s final year BA Photography students. Our focus was on understanding what goes into producing a themed body of work and the aesthetic, technical, and design considerations one has to take into account. Students were asked to choose a photo book, deconstruct each and every single element of it, present their findings and produce an image that could fit seamlessly into their chosen body of work.
Broomberg and Chanarin ‘v’ The Atlas Group
The Atlas Group / Walid Raad, Notebook Volume 38; Already Been in a Lake of Fire, 1975-2002
Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin, Afterlife, 2009.
Oh God, he said Aita al-Sha`b, Walid Raad, 2006
Death and Plastic
Albatross”Toothbrushes, bottle tops and cigarette lighters – all every day objects we take for granted. But as this startling picture taken of the contents of a young albatross shows, some of the 260m tonnes of plastic used annually ends up in the most unlikely places. Sometimes with tragic consequences.”
Silence and the Origins of Modern Remembrance
“Although several people would claim credit for the idea, the suggestion to hold a universal silence came from Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, formerly High Commissioner in South Africa. On November 4 1919 he wrote to Lord Milner suggesting that such a silent pause would be essential for preserving the memory of the war:
In the hearts of our people there is a real desire to find some lasting expression of the feelings for those who gave their live sin the war. They want something done now while the memories of sacrifice are in the minds of all, for there is a dread — too well grounded in experience — that those who have gone will not always be foremost in the thoughts of all and that when the fruits of sacrifice become our daily bread, there will be few occasions to remind us of what we so clearly realise today.
Les Astronautes, 1959
If the Apollo astronauts had flown to the moon via Paris in paper spaceships, this is how it might have looked. Walerian Borowczyk’s cut-out 12 minute short co-directed by Chris Marker almost beat the Americans to the moon by a decade. Instead, our ingenious protagonist’s mission is interrupted by the sight of a scantily-dressed young woman and a collision with a larger spaceship.
Book of the Week: +walker evans +sherrie levine
In a number of self-published books, Hermann Zschiegner explores the meaning of photography in the age of Google Images.
In +walker evans +sherrie levine and Thirty Four Parking Lots, Zschiegner takes up the challenge offered by conceptual artists Ed Ruscha and Sherrie Levine who between the 1960s and 1980s, created a number of works challenging photography’s [...]
Up Close & Personal with Tyranny
“FACES OF EVIL – shows the faces of the cruellest and most infamous dictators of our time, from Mao to Hitler to Mugabe. Hans Weishäupl took photographs of over 350 people in each dictator’s country and pieced particular parts of them together to create a new and alarmingly lively look for each of them. All [...]
Garry on the TV
There’s nothing quite like listening to an artist at the top of their game, exemplified here by the outstanding Garry Winogrand (1928-1984). If you don’t know his work, jump right in, the water’s lovely and warm. But whatever you do, don’t call him a street photographer …
After the Rain
On another rainy day in Manchester, what better way of transporting your imagination to brighter sights than through Taisuke Koyama’s Rainbow Form.
Remix: Cat Scrivener’s Moonmilk
I chose to work with Ryan McGinley’s latest body of work, ‘Moonmilk’. The body of work features nudes in caves, taken in ‘wild caves’ across North America during 2008 and 2009. McGinley states his influences as children’s adventure stories which give the images a certain naïveté. The other-worldly colors are also interesting, giving the body of work an eerie feel.
