Artist Lecture -- Shimon Attie

Still from The Attraction of Onlookers 

Joachim-Ecke Auguststrasse: Slide projection of former Jewish resident, 1931, Berlin, 1992

Judging by the image that was chosen for Shimon Attie's lecture poster, I was not excited at all to come today, but I've got to say I was very pleasantly surprised. While I thoroughly enjoyed the entire lecture despite the embarrassing technical difficulties, I'm mainly going to focus on Attie's The Attraction of Onlookers -- Aberfan: An Anatomy of a Welsch Village. In 1966 there was a tragic disaster in the Welsch  village of Aberfan.  A man-made avalanche slid down a mountain and completely covered the village's only elementary school.  This disaster brought all kinds of attention to the small village and hasn't truly allowed them to move on and really recover from the disaster.  It has also spawned a kind of disaster tourism that brings swells of bottle-neckers to see the site of the disaster.  Like Attie said, "We freeze in response to trauma, but the trauma is never complete."  He was approached many times to make a piece commemorating the incident and turned it down many times before he actually accepted.  He made two promises to the village, that he would not use any of the archival imagery of the accident and he would show them in a way that they'd never been shown before.
Thus he created The Attraction of Onlookers.  In this five channel installation, he had images of archetypes that could be found in any given Welsch village: the dancer, the hardcore singer, the mayor, the men's choir, the conductor, the family.  Each person/group of people were depicted on slowly moving black platform which was seamless against a black background.  They were holding various poses that were indicative of their particular "label".  In the background, there was a slow, tinkling music that was very quite and contemplative.  The music coupled with the movements reminded me of a music box, and it was really quite touching.  He chose to show the people with expressionless faces in order to extract any sentimentality that could be attached to each person.  The use of these iconic types was to rectify the loss of privacy and anonymity.  I wish I would've been able to experience this piece in person. I believe it would be truly moving to be encompassed by all of the imagery and sound of this work.

Artist Lecture -- Spencer Finch

I don't know that Spencer Finch's lecture was terribly informative to my own work, but I did think he gave a very interesting lecture.  The way he goes about creating things that are derived from a single moment is very relevant to photography.  He also doesn't seem to care too much about whether or not people understand the exact moment that he is communicating just so long as they can recognize a connection with the world around them.

Installation: Sky (Over Coney Island, November 26th, 2004, 12:47pm. Southwest view over the Cyclone.)

It was interesting how scientific his approach was. This is something that always fascinates me -- to combine science and mathematics with art is a great concept in that they are both completely opposite.  The former is strict and rigid, regulated, where as the latter is very free flowing and organic.  The marriage he creates between the two is uplifting and intriguing.  

Mixed Media: Outer Space (25 Brightest Stars)

Another thing he'd mentioned that I thought really hit home was that the artist puts an idea into the work which is then decoded by the viewer. Time and time again I've mentioned how I don't want to impose my thoughts on my audience, I don't want to tell anyone what they need to think about something. If they'd like to know, that's fine, but ultimately it's going to be the audience who gives the work meaning, whether or not it's what I had in mind while the work was being made -- and I'm fine with that.

Photographs: One donut twelve times, twelve donuts one time

I would really love to experience one of Finch's installations. They seem like they would be very soothing and ethereal.  I'd like to think that while I was experiencing it I would feel nostalgia and subconsciously know what he was trying to convey... of course I can't really say until I go and see the work in person.