Art... (not Sands)

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One of this years big media events in Denmark was an art exhibition called "Eye Go Black". One of the items on exhibit was a table full of kitchen blenders, each plugged in and containing a live fish. The intent of the artist was to make a visual - and realistic - representation of the big choice human kind is facing - to kill or not to kill. Backed (financially, so the story goes) by a tabloid newspaper, a member of the public chose to kill one of the fish by turning on the blender - surrounded by hordes of press photographers. I was not there that day (fortunately - or they would have had to wipe something off the floor - not sure what...), but a few days later. I hung around the display for a couple of hours, and this is my favourite shot of the day:

I also had occasion to watch a pro at work and saw him take the kind of shot that most of the pros went for...

..I dismissed that idea as hackneyed the moment I walked through the door - am I stupid?

:) Christel

-- Christel Green (look.no@film.dk), August 31, 2000

Answers

your image is much to be preferred. far less cluttered, far more direct in its composition. the uncertainty of the possible participants, the dilemma they face, is brought home very well by your placement of them huddled and distant against the wall, with the "victims" shown with clarity and stark reality right out front. the other picture would be at home in a high school yearbook.

-- wayne harrison (wayno@netmcr.com), August 31, 2000.

A much better display would have been to merely leave a loaded gun on the table. Just think of all the interesting decisions that would bring up!

-- John Kantor (jkantor@mindspring.com), August 31, 2000.

Beware if your spouse suddenly takes an interest in art :)

-- Christel Green (look.no@film.dk), August 31, 2000.

The one advantage of the pro's picture is that you don't need to be told that there are fish in the blenders. Those of us exposed to the tidal surge of artspeak unleashed by this exhibit will know, but arbitrary viewers of your image won't. If you could get closer to the blenders while still leaving some of that lovely space around the children you would have an image that needed less explanation.

Otherwise yours is much better. The kid's poses look natural and there's a real feeling of the context in which this slice of time is taking place.

That painting behind the pro is rather sad. "Oh look at me I've just discovered the twirl filter!" Perhaps if we turned on all the blenders simultaneously he's leap backwards in horror and bring it crashing to the ground. Now *that* would be art.

-- Struan Gray (struan.gray@sljus.lu.se), September 01, 2000.


Good point about the fish Struan - ok, I confess, I blew it :\ I still like the pic though, and the kids weren4t posing - it was a candid shot. The fish were there alright...



-- Christel Green (look.no@film.dk), September 01, 2000.



i think you sell your effort short. given the tiny size of the fish, surely the photograph would have been accompanied by a description of the scenario, much as you advised us of what was taking place. it would make a perfect illustration of the literary aspect of the incident.

-- wayne harrison (wayno@netmcr.com), September 01, 2000.

I'm not sure what to say, I have a hard time seeing this as about "people." I like it as a shot of blenders, it's very funny and somewhat surrealistic. But when people are so small, it needs to be relative to something meaningful, but I'm not sure that people relative to blenders does anything for me.

Rename it Blenders and I'd probably love it...

-- Jeff Spirer (jeff@spirer.com), September 01, 2000.


ok Jeff - I you don4t percieve the choice between life or death as "meaningful", then there4s nothing I can do for you, I4m afraid ;) (just kidding - mostly :)

But seriously, you bring up an important point about defining the scope of this forum. I mean - how much of the frame should be filled with human figures for a photo to be considered a "people picture"? You may be looking for more of a portraiture type image, whereas I probably consider anything as relevant which serves to illustrate how people interact with environment or any factor of influence on our lives (such as art). As such, a human figure could be VERY small in the frame - or totally absent, leaving only a footprint or shadow. I have not given this enough thought - thanks for bringing it up!

-- Christel Green (look.no@film.dk), September 02, 2000.


Sorry. Can't look at this without immediately remembering Dan Ackroyd's Saturday Night Live skit: a TV commercial advertising the "Bass-O-Matic".

-- Jeff Polaski (polaski@acm.org), September 05, 2000.

I'm OK with people being infinitesimally small in a photo and still being called a people photo if, in some way, it's about people. In this case, I have a hard time seeing it as about the people in any way, maybe because the foreground is so bizarre that it reduces any attention that would be paid to the kids.

-- Jeff Spirer (jeff@spirer.com), September 05, 2000.


Architecture is fundamentally about people; therefore, so is even an empty room.

However, I'd argue that fashion isn't about people (at least not as the subjects of the photo). Rather, it's about desire.

-- John Kantor (jkantor@mindspring.com), September 05, 2000.


Yep, John, and I like Ionian women myself. Those Dorians and Phrygians are just a little too moody in their minor architecture.

No point here. Sorry Cristel.

-- shawn (seeinsideforever@yahoo.com), September 06, 2000.


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