Instruments of Tyranny

 

 

Albert Watson At Hasted Kraeutler

Hasted Kraeutler gallery presents a large selection of works by famed photographer Albert Watson, the show is an amalgamation of images, from platinum prints to digital C-prints, intimate portraits to wall sized triptychs, landscapes and photoshoped fictitious creatures; all in all a completely incongruous body of work by one of the worlds most achieved and respected commercial photographers.  It’s puzzling how we can look at a resume and be enamored by the achievements of an individual and let that taint our reception of their contemporary work.  If it weren’t for one image this show would have been chalked up as a total loss for me, which was the case for many shows on my rounds this weekend, but this would have been a first for me at Hasted Kraeutler.  This body of work spoke to no common theme, nor style, nor subject. It seemed to be a presentation of ego, touting to the world the many achievements of our dear Watson.  There was however a diamond in the rough, which so happened to be the image that was used to promote this ostentatious display.  An Image of a primates hand, presumably a chimpanzees, griping a revolver with trigger engaged and hammer pulled back.  My initial reaction was one of appreciation for a bold statement on the conditions of gun use in this country and possibly the world, however, this was the first image in the show and was also the image that grabbed my attention and persuaded me to go to the show in the first place.  Once I was able to see the image in context and realized that… well, that there was no context I began to feel foolish.  Was I simply projecting my belief system onto a meaningless image, or was the meaning of this image lost when it was separated from the article it was illustrating?  After all, the surrounding images in the show were of a space suit and a female pelvis with what appeared to have a vegetable covering her genitals.  I can’t help but feel duped this time, but this only leaves me asking the same question I asked when I entered the gallery.  Is this the appropriate venue to consume commercial photography?

The Great Presidential Trek from E. Adam Attia on Vimeo.

Don't Tread On Me

Don't Tread On Me from E. Adam Attia on Vimeo.



Four or five years ago, after my service in the US Army and once I had move to NYC I realized a great ideological divide in the American people.  This caused me to further explore the concerns we all have as individuals and I became more perplexed by the partisan views most of us hold so dear to our hearts. I created this video as my first attempt in the medium and as a means to express my fear of what polarized greed will result in.

Postmasters Gallery presents Chris Verene

At the Postmasters gallery Chris Verene displayed a series of forty photographs taken over the course of the last 26 years documenting the lives of his immediate family and friends, and eventually the affects of the economic collapse on their lives. The images resemble enormous Polaroid’s with hand written notes in the margins, the choice of display though quite cheesy aids in the understanding of the family dynamic. The photographs are sullen and have and sense of despair: taken in rural Illinois the images open our eyes to a reality little know or recognized by much of the New York audience. The work is a reminder of Walker Evans or Dorothea Lange, portraying the hard realities of life for those worst affected by a nations crumbling economy. An image of a young mother living with her two children in a car and another shortly thereafter of the same mother alone because human services has taken the children away are strong examples of the hardships American citizens face today and illustrate strongly the priorities of our nation, for better or worse. An image of a man standing by a children’s swing set stands out, instead of children swinging we see the subject hanging hub caps from the swing set. Are they some strange neurotic coping mechanism for his loses or is he simply hang freshly painted hubcaps to dry? The caption reads “Steve and the hub caps on the girls’ old swing set. After the divorce Steve never saw his girls again.” This sad portrayal of a man seemingly alone in the world with nothing left but his hubcaps is a disappointment to the state of our nation and our culture.

Though the show has come down in the past couple days I felt it was worth noting.

Maine to Washington in 30 days Part XII

So... I'm sorry about the great delay in posting this last video. There has been technical difficulty not to mention I got caught up in a move to a new apartment. There are more fun videos taken on the trip that will be added soon, but this concludes the video diary series.

Maine to Washington in 30 days Part XI

Oops...

Sorry about that last update, the wind was stronger than we realized. Hopefully next the next one will turn out better.

To give you a very brief synopsis, we were in Redwood National Park after a good hike in the woods that led us to the beach. These forests are like something straight out of the Mesozoic era, it is truly an amazing site.

Maine to Washington in 30 days Part X

Maine to Washington in 30 days Part IX