Major Project Influences (5) - Jeff Wall and Book Review: "Jeff Wall, the Complete Edition" (Phaidon, 2009: reprinted 2015)

The Canadian Jeff Wall is one of the most important and influential artists and photographers currently working. Whilst his photographic output covers a variety of genres he is best known for his carefully and painstakingly constructed staged scenes, reminiscent of “stills” from a film set, which involve actors or “extras” who each play a part in the resulting tableau. His work is often presented in a distinctive manner, using transparencies in light boxes.

Although I have not encountered Wall’s work in exhibitions I have been aware of it for some time, because of his reputation and the frequent references to his art in books, newspapers and magazines. During my present course his work has become more relevant, as some of my major project work involves attempts to produce tableaux in which two or more images are superimposed as a montage or double exposure, with the idea of juxtaposing themes. It is therefore also relevant that in his more recent work Wall uses computational methods in order to create “realistic” photo-montages. In order to take a closer look at his full output I purchased the book “Jeff Wall, the Complete Edition” (Phaidon), which offers an overview of his work from the 1970s until 2009.

The book consists of a series of essays by Wall and other writers, together with a number of interviews in which Wall discusses his work, his influences and his philosophy. The book is liberally illustrated with Wall’s photographs, including most (all?) of his best known work.

I found the interviews and essays hard to follow and keep up with. Wall is clearly a deep thinker and philosopher. He is well read and profound in his views and statements. His philosophy comes across in his work, which often turns what may at first glance appear very straightforward, perhaps bland scenes into carefully nuanced and manipulated statements about the human condition. However, some of Wall’s early work, such as “Mimic” (1982; Image 1) is relatively straightforward for the casual viewer to interpret.

Image 1: "Mimic" (Jeff Wall)

This image is a reconstruction of a scene apparently witnessed by Wall some time before the photograph was staged. The gesture, with its racist overtones, is easy to interpret, but the behaviour of the Japanese man and the girl add substance to the momentary drama and can be interpreted in different ways. This photograph is one of several in Wall’s output that connect street photography with cinematography. The photograph can also be viewed as a “decisive moment”, missed at the time but captured at a later date, in much the same way as painters through the ages have captured dramatic past events as a single scene (for example “The Annunciation”) in their work.

Whilst many of Wall’s works are dealt with in general terms he does throw some light on the significance of specific works in his essays and (more often) in the interviews. One such work is “Stumbling Block” (1991; Image 2).

Image 2: "Stumbling Block" (Jeff Wall)

In this complex tableau one pedestrian is shown in the act of falling over the “stumbling block” whilst to the right another person sits on the ground, apparently having suffered the same fate. Careful examination of the photograph (which would normally be seen as an almost life-sized colour transparency / light box installation) reveals that the “stumbling block” is actually a person, enveloped in a type of uniform. This much is easy for the casual viewer to ascertain, but what is the purpose of Wall’s construction? In an interview in the book he describes how he produced the photograph as a kind of “philosophical comedy”, with human stumbling blocks being employed by a future society to help people change by interrupting themselves in their habitual activities. The stumbling block is “an employee of the city…….he is passive and indifferent……the perfect ‘bureaucrat of therapy…. available for anyone who is not sure whether they want to go where they seem to be headed.”

This photograph and the philosophy behind its production give some insight into the workings of Wall’s mind, but in general I found reading the text of the essays and interviews hard going. He is clearly influenced by other works of art, in particular those by the Impressionist painters (one of his most famous works, “Picture for Women”, was produced as a comment on Manet’s “Un Bar aux Folies-Bergere”) and by essays (his photograph “Odradek, Taboristska 8, Prague, 18 July 1994” was produced after reading the essay “Troubles of a Householder, 1919” by Franz Kafka, which is reproduced in the book alongside the photograph).

It is clear from the book that the genre of landscape photography (both urban and traditional) is very important in Wall’s work. He contributes an essay (“About making Landscapes”, 1995) and some of his best known work, such as “A Sudden Gust of Wind (after Hokusai)” and “The Storyteller”, rely heavily on this genre. One fairly recent, lesser-known example of his work, “A Woman with a Covered Tray” (2003; Image 3) perhaps best represents his output. Whilst the tableau (which here just features one person) probably took a lot of preparation to put together it is apparently simple, yet open to interpretation. What is on the tray and where is she heading? Is the season winter (no leaves on the deciduous trees) and, if so, why are the (presumably evergreen) shrubs carrying berries? What is the patch of light on the path in the foreground reflecting? What is the relationship of the woman to the house in the background? Does she live there or is she visiting? These and many more questions are discussed in the book, as is the overall significance of this work. Why was it created? What does it tell us about humanity? And so on…

Image 3: "Woman with a Covered Tray" (Jeff Wall)

The book provides an in-depth look at the life and works of Jeff Wall. Whilst it has taken me a morning to write about the book and the artist, there is enough detail here to keep a postgraduate researcher happy for years. I feel that I’ve only scratched the surface of the man and his philosophy, but I don’t want to go any deeper because I fear that I may not be able to clamber out. The photographs are well reproduced. The visual complexity varies dramatically from image to image – not all contain people, but the ones that do are the most interesting and clearly the most important. For anybody with several days to spare, reading the book and attempting to interpret each of the images could provide worthwhile entertainment.

What have I learnt by studying the work of Jeff Wall? In his world, attention to detail is apparent even in putting the simplest tableaux together. He challenges the viewers to interpret his scenes but doesn’t expect or require them to come up with a single answer. Some of his later work involves the seamless use of photo-montage to produce works that appear to have been generated as a single image. If I can incorporate just a tiny section of his world into my own work, present and future, I will have a chance to create better art. 

Deutsche Börse Photography Prize, 2016 (The Photographers' Gallery, London, 14 May 2016)

Review

The annual Deutsche Börse Photography Prize is awarded to a living photographer, of any nationality, for a specific body of published or exhibited work “that has significantly contributed to photography in Europe” during the previous year. The award has many similarities with Britain’s Turner prize: four photographers are short-listed early in the year, following which their work is exhibited (in this event at The Photographers' Gallery) before the winner of the impressive (£30,000) prize is announced later in the year. The selected candidates often have tenuous links with mainstream photography and photographic genres, favouring a conceptual and/or experimental approach to their work. Indeed, artists who do not take photographs but merely use the photographs of other people have been short-listed in the past.

I visit this exhibition every year and found this year’s selection to be the most enjoyable so far, perhaps because there was a heavier than usual emphasis on photojournalism, with  important and relevant current social issues being highlighted  – in previous exhibitions the work has been more conceptual and consequently more difficult to enjoy as a visual experience.

I was particularly impressed by the work of the Egyptian artist Laura El-Tartawy, who was nominated for her photo-book “In the Shadow of the Pyramids”. Whereas her work, which in the exhibition consists of a slide show of images with spoken commentary, covers a ten year period and incorporates old family photographs, it was her street photography, taken in the build up to and during the Cairo Tahrir Square protests, which really impressed me. The night time images, with their ethereal quality enhanced by blurring (presumably as a result of the relatively long exposure times and rapid movement of the protesters – see Image 1 – conveyed great atmosphere and captured the spirit and essence of the protests. However, she showed equal skill in handling intimate portraits, such as that shown in Image 2. It requires courage and skill to be present in the “front line” when momentous events, such as the Tahrir Square demonstrations, are occurring and to come away with images that capture the essence of these hugely important events. However, despite my enjoyment of El-Tartawy’s work, I do wonder whether it will be a little too “mainstream” for the judges (at the time of writing the winner of this year’s prize had not been announced).

Image 1 (Laura El-Tartawy)

Image 2 (Laura El-Tartawy)

Tobias Zielony’s work also uses a photojournalistic approach to deal with an important social issue, that of the lives and struggles of African migrant activists in his native Germany. Zielony’s images, which are predominantly portraits of the migrants (see Image 3), are quieter than those of El-Tartawy but, in combination with his interviews with the migrants, they have been important in raising the profiles of this community in his home country. His work reminds me of that of short-listed artists from previous years and must stand a chance of winning.

Image 3 (Tobias Zielony)

Trevor Paglen’s work deals with mass surveillance and data collection. The American was nominated for a multi-media project, “The Octopus”, exhibited in Germany, in which he has collaborated with scientists and activists to produce, among other things, pictures of government restricted areas and the flight paths of drones. Paglen’s work is more conceptual than that of the others and therefore more in line with the normal criteria for selection. Here, the exhibition consists of small sub-sets of images that would have made no sense without the accompanying text. As an example Image 4, which has some aesthetic appeal, represents the flight paths of military drones. Whereas I found Paglen’s work rather “bitty” and lacking in appeal, his conceptual and adventurous approach towards a very difficult subject will, I am sure, appeal to the judges.

Image 4 (Trevor Paglen)

Like John Stezaker, a past winner of this prize, Erik Kessels usually relies on the appropriation of others’ images to produce his art. I have previously found Kessels’ work rather grating and lacking in any kind of artistic appeal, so it was no surprise to see his work featured here! What was a surprise was to find some of his own photographs and a very moving portrait of the life of his father, who had recently suffered a severe stroke that had left him paralysed and unable to continue with his hobby of restoring old cars. Kessels’ exhibition consists of actual parts from the car that his father was constructing when he suffered his stroke, together with many photographic prints (mainly his father’s) of the various parts that were being used to put the car together. This exhibition was certainly very different to any that I have seen at previous Deutsche Borse exhibitions: it would be interesting to know what the judges made of it!

Image 5 (Erik Kessels)

Visitors were asked to fill in cards to indicate which was their favourite work featured in the exhibition and why they chose it. Although my partner and I both chose El-Tartawy (by some distance) it was interesting to note that opinion was divided across all four artists. Of course the judges will look at the works from a very different perspective to ours – their decision is awaited with interest.

Learning Points

What did I learn from the exhibition? Firstly, I still tend to judge works based on their aesthetic appeal, rather than the importance of the subject matter or the brilliance of the concept. In doing so I probably place myself alongside 99% of the general public, although I have learnt over the last few years that the strength of concept and the way in which it is conveyed to others by the artist takes priority in the world of photographic art. If it is possible to combine all these features within a single project that would, for me, be artistic nirvana! Secondly, I must follow up the work of Laura El-Tartawy. Although her book is ridiculously expensive to buy her use of blurred and/or distorted images to express the events happening in Cairo, which echo the  more extreme images of the American photographer Susan Burnstine (who uses home-made, deliberately distorted lenses to capture her images), provides me with ideas for future work, if not for my current project work. 

"Conceptual Art in Britain 1964-1979" (Tate Britain, 16 April 2016)

Introduction

For years I have struggled to come to terms with the meaning and significance of conceptual art and, in particular, conceptual photographic art, which plays such a prominent role within modern teaching and practice. I therefore welcomed the opportunity to visit Tate Britain in order to get a better understanding about the origins of this key development in modern art.

Review

Conceptual art appears to regard the concept or idea behind its creation as being more important than its material form. It is appropriate and perhaps not coincidental that this ostensibly liberating development should have begun during a period (the 1960s) when young people, in particular, were for the first time freeing themselves from the shackles of conformity. One consequence of this new way of thinking was the development of new art forms, such as performance art, land art and ephemeral art (the latter referring to art works that were created and then destroyed within seconds, minutes or days). One problem with these new art forms was how they could be recorded for posterity, if indeed the artist wished to record them at all. Most artists featured here used photography, maps and texts to document their work and one or two filmed their art. However, how do you represent (say) a performance act, seen in front of a small audience 50 years ago, in an exhibition of this type? One or two videos are featured, but in many cases the performances are archived as faded photographs in yellowing news sheets or journals which fail to reproduce the excitement that this new art form must have generated at the time. Representations of land art by Richard Long (its best known practitioner) and others using photographs is rather more straightforward, but even here the usually small and often monochrome records lend the exhibition a somewhat austere feel.

Whilst I have come to appreciate that in conceptual art the idea behind the work is more important than the end product I still prefer to observe art that has aesthetic appeal. A few works, such as John Hilliard’s “Camera Recording its own Condition (7 Apertures, 10 Speeds, 2 Mirrors)” (Image 1) stood out for me in this respect – a simple concept, with a well-produced end product.

Image 1 (John Hilliard)

Some of the works displayed a degree of self-deprecating humour, almost as if the artists felt slightly guilty about being able to express themselves so freely. An example is Keith Arnatt’s “self-burial” (Image 2) which, in addition to being featured as a sequence of still frames, was also shown during its creation at hourly intervals, on television.

Image 2 (Keith Arnatt)

The exhibition features several contributions from Bruce McLean, who was clearly a prominent voice for conceptual art during the 1960s and 1970s. His extreme body language in “Nice Style Pose Band”, a type of performance art that was also recorded on camera for posterity in a series of portraits (Image 3) is apparently a send-up of the works of established sculptors such as Henry Moore. This work also carries a degree of humour.

Image 3 (Bruce McLean)

Perhaps it is to be expected that, given the dominance of the concept over the material end-product, very few original works of art or reproductions are present in the exhibition. One exception is the pyramid of thousands of oranges piled on the floor near the entrance to the exhibition, a reproduction of the work by the South African artist Roelof Loew. The idea is for each visitor to take an orange as they pass, thus altering or defacing the art work. On the day I visited very few had accepted the offer (are the oranges replaced regularly or is the art work allowed to evolve throughout the exhibition?), but the work does at least add a splash of colour to an otherwise austere exhibition and probably gets closer to the core of what conceptual art is trying to say than any of the other exhibits.

Final Comments and Learning Points

Despite my reservations regarding the representation of the art works in the exhibition I enjoyed learning more about the origins and meaning of conceptual art. The practice of creating conceptual art has evolved considerably over the intervening years – nowadays it is integrated with abstract art (which it originally sought to replace) and other art forms. Photography, which in the period 1964 – 1979 was used primarily to document and archive conceptual art and its performance, now leads the way as a means of expressing artists’ concepts.

The exhibition has given me a better understanding of how to create conceptual art although I would like my art, at least, to retain some aesthetic value and to carry a message rather than simply being regarded as conceptual and/or “playful” (I hate that word!).

Major Project Influences (4) - Peter Kennard

Following on from the work of John Heartfield , the German pioneer of photomontage, who used this new art form between the wars to denounce Hitler and the Nazis, it is only natural to talk about Peter Kennard, Britain’s leading post-WW2 practitioner of photomontage. Kennard, a strong pacifist, drew inspiration from Heartfield’s work and has now been using this art form to protest against war and injustice for nearly 50 years. Working for organisations including the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and Amnesty International, his art has appeared on posters, placards and t-shirts across the world.

Although I was familiar with some of Kennard’s most famous art, such as his “reproduction” of Constable’s “The Hay Wain”, in which the hay has been replaced by cruise missiles [the montage was produced at the time of the Greenham Common protests], I hadn’t appreciated the depth and diversity of Kennard’s work until I visited the exhibition: “Peter Kennard: Unofficial War Artist” at The Imperial War Museum, London in 2015. I posted a feature about the exhibition on the blog for my previous level 3 photography course (“Your Own Portfolio”), commenting on how I had found the exhibition both influential and inspirational and that I loved the idea of producing my own photomontage work that had intent and purpose.  At the end I said that I hoped that I would be able to develop this art form in the future. Now this time has come to pass and, although I am using photomontage for a very different purpose, it is rewarding to see again how Kennard has used the medium to create very powerful and provocative art work.

A typical example of Kennard’s work is his Photomontage (image 1), produced shortly after the British Government issued a public information booklet, “Protect and Survive”, suggesting measures to be taken by the public in the event of an imminent nuclear war.

Image 1 (Peter Kennard)

In order for Kennard’s work to be of value it had to be accessible to and understood by the general public, so he used none too subtle motifs such as skulls, guns and missiles to get his messages across. Many of Kennard’s works also deal with humanitarian issues, with world poverty and the gap between the rich and the poor being well represented in artwork such as image 2.

Image 2 (Peter Kennard)

The juxtaposition of the two parts of this photomontage once again deliver a very clear message – in my own work I hope to produce juxtapositions that also tell a story or deliver a message, although they will not be as stark as this!

From all of Kennard’s work I would select his “Decoration” series as my favourite. Strictly speaking the works in this series, of which image 3 is a potent example, are not photomontage, but a combination of digital printing and paint. The 3 metre high canvases juxtapose motifs of the human cost of the Iraq War with established representations of military valour.

Image 3 (Peter Kennard)

These more recent art works display the more subtle and contemplative approach that has characterised Kennard’s recent work. They are of value to me in showing how a strongly creative mind can, by the careful choice of motifs, produce work that carries a powerful message whilst retaining great aesthetic value. The aesthetics associated this series of works must result in an almost overpowering effect when all eighteen are seen together: the exhibition at The Imperial War Museum just showed a few.

Kennard’s work sets new standards for those who wish to follow his lead in (re) establishing photomontage as an important and relevant art form and will continue to influence and guide my own work.

Major Project Influences (3) - John Heartfield

I first came across John Heartfield’s political photomontages in a small exhibition of his work at Tate Modern, London. Heartfield, along with fellow Germans George Grosz and Hannah Hoch, established the photomontage as an art form. As a member of the German Stalinist KPD party, Heartfield used this new art form in their weekly illustrated magazine, Arbeiter Illustrierte Zeitung (AIZ), to devastating effect as a satirical tool in order to lampoon the German Fascists and the moderate Social Democratic Party (SDP), which the Stalinists sought to portray as an organisation of “social fascists”, in the years following the First World War. Whilst Heartfield’s savage portrayal of the Fascist leaders was witheringly accurate, his lampooning of the SPD drove a wedge between his own party and that of the social democrats. This action was one of many factors that allowed the Fascists to rise to power, with devastating consequences for the world.

Heartfield’s life story reads like an action novel. Forced to leave Germany following Hitler’s seizure of power he fled to Czechoslovakia. Later, he was offered the chance to move to Moscow but wisely turned it down, as he would almost certainly have become a victim of one of Stalin’s “purges”. With the impending German occupation of Czechoslovakia becoming more inevitable (and Heartfield was number 5 on the Nazis’ “most wanted” list there) he moved to England where, as a German with strong left wing views, he enjoyed a less than comfortable time during the Second World War and also suffered from ill health. He returned to East Germany after the war, where he lived out his days quietly until his death in 1968.

So much for Heartfield the man, but what about Heartfield the artist? It is generally regarded that he used the new medium of photomontage to push political satire to new heights or, at the very least, to new extremes. An early, famous example of his work is shown below (image 1)

Image 1: "The Real Meaning of the Hitler Salute: Millions Stand Behind Me"

(AIZ no. 42, 16 October 1932)

In this photomontage Hitler is seen accepting money from a Nazi-funding industrialist, with the quote of “millions stand behind me” now referring to money, rather than to people. The concept for the photomontage is simple, yet brilliant but its execution must also have required much time and effort. Heartfield photographed an actor, who played the industrialist, before carefully introducing him into the montage. He did not carry out all the work himself, but exercised complete control over all the many processes involved to produce the montages. The end product was often used on the front cover of AIZ magazine. Ironically, Hitler came to power within a few months of the publication of this photomontage.

Heartfield continued to produce wonderful photomontages whilst in exile in Czechoslovakia, although the circulation of AIZ magazine was diminishing rapidly. One of his later classics is shown in image 2.

Image 2: "Hurrah, the Butter is Finished!"

(AIZ no. 51, 19 December 1935)

With the Nazis now in complete control of Germany, Goering stated in a speech in Hamburg that “metal makes an empire strong, butter only makes a people fat”. Presumably he was urging the German people to get their priorities right and increase industrial output, but Heartfield mocks the statement in a most amusing way. This complex photomontage must have taken many hours or possibly days to put together – a far cry from today’s speedy “Photoshop” edits.

Heartfield’s photomontages also featured on book jackets, but it will be for his trail blazing, strong, satirical work in the 1930s that he will be remembered. In many ways this work pre-empts the photomontage output of Peter Kennard, who is next on my list of influences.

Although I am using photomontage in an entirely different way to Heartfield, his inspired work has influenced my own. In particular his use of double exposure, in which the juxtaposition of images encourages the viewer to propose a link which tells a story, is at the heart of what I am trying to do. A recently published book by David King and Ernst Volland (“John Heartfield: Laughter is a Devastating Weapon” – Tate) provides an excellent overview of Heartfield’s life and work.

Major Project Influences (2) - John Levett

I first came across the work of John Levett after I joined the London Independent Photography Group (LIPG) in 2007. His articles often appeared in their quarterly magazine. Whereas the photographs, in common with virtually all the photographs that appeared in the magazine, had little or no aesthetic appeal for me at the time the accompanying text was fascinating. Levett’s prose usually took the form of an interview, in which an imaginary interviewer asked him questions about his past, to which Levett would reply – in kind. The articles were all about memory and it was clear that he had had a difficult upbringing and had also spent time in an alcohol rehabilitation centre. The images that accompanied his articles usually showed fragments of his past life in the form of archival photographs, tickets, gallery programmes etc. Sometimes the objects were framed and sometimes text was added (see images 1 and 2).

Image 1 (John Levett) 

Image 2 (John Levett)

I can’t remember why I joined the LIPG, but it was soon clear that the members whose articles appeared in the magazine were thinking along totally different lines to me. I remember visiting their annual exhibition and looking at a series of photographs featuring cars in (I think) Morocco that had been covered by dust sheets – and that was it. Only now do I realise that I was looking at examples of conceptual photographic art, of the kind that is promoted by The British Journal of Photography, amongst others, and is taught to and practiced by students at art colleges throughout the UK. I didn’t renew my membership for a third year, but I kept my copies of the magazine and now look through them from time to time in order to stimulate ideas.

One of Levett’s articles for the LIPG magazine (winter 2008; no. 11) features memories of his parents (both long dead) and his attempts to find out more about their lives from very limited archival material and conversations with the very few people who had known both Levett and his parents. The images that accompany the article (e.g. image 3) all incorporate photographs or drawings of his mother and are apparently carelessly taken, with no attempt to produce a smart or uniform series. However, the photographs do create an atmosphere and an almost privileged view of one person’s past.

Looking at Levett’s articles and images provided me with the confidence to believe that I could talk about my own mother and represent her later years, albeit in a very different manner to Levett, in a photographic project that has now become my major project. Not only that, but I have also produced one image (image 4) for the project that was strongly influenced by Levett’s own photographic work. Whether the image, or one in this style, will survive to feature in my final portfolio is open to doubt. What is not in doubt is Levett’s influence on my general outlook to the project.

Image 3 (John Levett)

Image 4

A quick internet search suggests that John Levett is still active within the LIPG. His photographic practice now seems to mainly involve walking and photographing in public spaces. His written “self-interrogation” style remains (see https://cucrblog.wordpress.com/2014/02/08/walking-backwards-spitting-in-the-face-of-death-by-john-levett/) and he continues to base a lot of his work on memories from the past.