| Home / About / Exhibitions / Support / Flat Files / Community / Submit Work / Links |
| Peter HappelChristian |
| Peter HappelChristian Terrestrial and Aerial Reconnaissance Positioning System (T.A.R.P.S.) 2003-ongoing In this project, I concentrate on the aesthetic value of refuse and the surprise of its transformation as an image. Rather than photograph used tarps with a camera and film, I contact print them following the logic that by not using a camera, the resulting images would be more like x-rays and indisputably precise. The images are precise, but rather than looking like tarps, they appear to be pictures of earth from outer space. Reminiscent of early satellite imagery, the tarps are representative of low-tech, bit map surveillance, replete with the illusion of coast lines, cities, rural areas and weather systems. Artist Statement A photograph is an analog. It is always a second, frozen glance of someone, something or sometime and the mechanical nature of its production leads many to believe that the information on the article of paper is indelible. Even if that someone at that sometime in the image is not an actor, the image will always have a director. I find it somewhat tragic to not be able to believe in what we see and yet I find it liberating to be able to pull back the curtain, rub my eyes and see all the ropes, pulleys, and weights. I am interested in exploring the capacity of the traditional photograph to invent information as easily as it reports information. At its foundation, my artwork is the documentation and transformation of everyday objects and places that subtly resonate as, or with, traces of human activity that I have either found or made myself. Upon this foundation, is not only my desire to physically engage with these places and things, but also to recognize the failure of the photographic image to adequately record these places and things. I explore these dilemmas through various concept-driven, process-oriented projects by supplementing the camera-made image with components of performance art, artist books, drawing, simple cartography, photograms and contact prints. Working with a variety of low-tech approaches allows my work to retain a handmade quality and lets me participate in the space of the physical world. In much of my work, I reference the imagery of geographic maps and look to the mechanics of map-making as a way to gather, organize and present different aspects of my projects. I find a strong relationship between maps and photographs in that both are relatively accurate, yet entirely subjective. Both are analogs of the world; dressed up to look official, but are secretly stitched together. It only requires a small shift in perception or a turn of the wrist so that north points south and a map becomes a beautiful abstract drawing full of lines, shapes and colors. Another inspiration I find in maps is their visual efficiency which provides only enough information for practical use: a minimalism that I bring into my studio practice and translate into the visual forms of my work. Behaving in the world similar to early cartographers, I make a habit of literally setting my camera aside and reaching into the world to physically interact with my subject matter. It is at that point beyond the mediation of the camera, when I place my body between the image and its referent, that the photograph is porous and reveals its subjectivity. By working within that symbolic space I am able to better investigate a unique quality of the photographic image; that it presents fiction while representing truth. It is this synchronized mutation drifting between a descriptive reality and a constructed reality that resonates within my work. resume statement contact website |
| Our hours: Wednesday - Saturday 12-5pm. Appointments always welcome. Dinnerware Contemporary Arts 101 W. 6th Street Tucson, AZ 85701 | ph. 520.792.4503 | fax 520.792.1282 | dinnerware@theriver.com |
