New #West
The way I make my work is pretty simple. I find something interesting, decide how to explore it, make the work, and then think about it. The most time spent is generally on polishing up the work for the show-and-tell portion of grad school.
For example:
What’s Interesting To Me: When I get homesick I look at the google street view of my hometown in Arkansas.
Exploration/Production: I take out my camera and photography my computer screen displaying GSV. I look/explore for places in my hometown that I have personal memories attached to. I label each photograph with a memory to that particular place.
Polishing: Print size, typology of the text saying the memory, on/offline displays.
Done.
Let’s back up a bit though. All my projects tend be under the umbrella of: What’s intriguing about our interactions with the virtual space, what role does it have to play within our lives? How does our technology talk to and affect itself continually?
Within that umbrella I try to find specific events and/or experiences I want to explore like the example above.
A new one I am excited to explore is the idea of a new west. Early American photographers pioneered the literal and conceptual west. They explored a new area of the United States, garnered a nationalistic pride in this land, and got some of the land protected. These photographers embodied the American spirit of exploration. In the 1960’s and 70’s we had a shift. We become bored with Earth. We looked out there… to the outer space.
At 26, I wonder where my ‘west’ will be. I believe it is the virtual space. The ever expanding user generated world. With each new game, site, profile, etc that is created so it new virtual land for us to explore and exploit. I have stated a project exploring this idea, but it needs more work. I want to tie my exploration with that of the early photographers. I also want to show the performance of my exploration. I don’t know if you have ever had to travel from the city of Stormwind to the safe hold of Dalaran, without a Mage on hand, but it’s time consuming and dangerous if on a PVP server (World of Warcraft reference). The event of exploring is as important, if not more so, than the products (photographs) I bring back.
Other artists exploring these ideas are, but not limited to, Jon Rafman and Joan Fontcuberta.
