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When initially seeing this photograph, and before i researched the concept behind Barth’s work, I was reminded of painting methods that use light to portray a subject. The photo was interesting to me because the focus would normally be on scene outside the window; whereas here the focus is on the window itself and how it changes the objects outside. There are repeated shapes in the square window panes, and the view through the window is blurred. The scene through the window is recognizable as a landscape with a tree and building, but the focus seems to be on the time of day, the color palette created by light, and the shapes created by all of these . Her personal perception looking through this window is very apparent. The panes of glass that she is looking through are visible, as well as the reflections of red light from her house, and the time of day when she happened to be looking through this window. The viewpoint is a very personal one, because if anyone else were looking through the window the conditions would be different. For example, the place where she is standing, the light reflecting on the glass, the time of day, and the focus on the background and foreground are all records of place and time that are personal to her.
Melanie Pullen
American artist self trained in her chosen field grew up in New York city in a family of artists. Born in 1975 she work with galleries and museums around the world. Also working with musicians like beck, she currently resides in L.A. Her work has been published in numerous publications in many countries. There is also a book of her photographs out called High Fashion Crime Series published by the Nazraeli Press.
Her work is often very large and backlit when in a galleries setting. Pullen works in film and scans, prints and retouches her own work. Inspired by crime scene photographers between 1914 and 1918 as represented in the book Luc Sante’s “Evidence”. She has combined fashion, military uniforms and crime scenes in an interesting way. The film “Eyes of Laura Mars “ also was an influence.
High Fashion Crime Scenes (official site)
Exhibition Stephen Wirtz Gallery
New York Times Interview, 2004 New York Times
[Beck.com http://www.beck.com/colorspace]
[KQED Gallery Crawl http://www.kqed.org/arts/programs/gallerycrawl/episode.jsp?essid=24440]
[YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF9tKM1BRrA]
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Barth’s earlier work is not nearly as discreet as her later, but still encompasses this idea of perception. Much of her early work combines elements of photography with Op art. For example, in her piece “Unititled # 14” , she portrays a tiny photograph of the exterior of a house at night that is lit from the inside. The photograph is surrounded by many bold black and white stripes that are almost painful to look at. In this image she is toying with the idea of the comfort associated with the home, and contrasting it with the jarring stripes that make you want to look away.
Over time her photographs grow much more painterly. They begin to suggest very subtle shifts in her perception of the things surrounding her rather than describing the study of perception in general. One particular series called “Nowhere Near” seemed to marked the beginning of her painterly abstractions. Over and over, each photo portrays the same tree shot from the same window in her house. The purpose of repeating the same subject matter throughout the series made it clear that the photographs were not about the tree or the window, but the slight shifts in her perception of them from day to day.
Another series, “...and of time.”, depicts (much like the title) very unclear fragments of things. In a manner comparable to the impressionist painters, she primarily focuses on the way that light affects her surroundings. Often times the photographs will portray the same wall over and over, and focus on the changes in the colors and shapes that are produced by the light upon it.
In a more recent series, “Sundial”, all of the photographs are taken at dusk. The photos show the transformation of things and colors as day fades into night. The changes from photo to photo are just as subtle as the natural shift from day to night, and it is often difficult to distinguish between one photograph from the one next to it. Although individually the photographs appear very similar, as a whole they capture the passing of time. They are very successful at representing both time and perception, the personal experience of each, and the interplay between the two.
Untitled #14
Nowhere Near
...and of time.
Sundial
References:
Barth, Uta, Jonathan Crary, Russell Ferguson, and Holly Myers. Uta Barth, The Long Now. New York: Gregory R. Miller & CO., 2010.
Barth, Uta, Sheryl Conkelton, Russell Ferguson, and Timothy Martin. Uta Barth In Between Places. Seattle: Henry Art Gallery, 2000.
Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uta_Barth
http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/2aa/2aa239.htm