The Un(framed) Photograph, one of the current exhibitions on display at the Center for Book Arts, focuses on how the art of photography, the photographic process, and related media such as video stills are used to convey content, form, text, and image with a broader context of book and related arts. Featuring current members of the Center’s artistic community and other invited artists, the exhibit includes a variety of media including books, sculptures, mixed media installations, new media, and performance art.
I enjoyed the exhibit and was surprised by the continuity of the pieces given the range of media utilized. Even while including video installations and audio pieces, the collection was united by a sense of form and text that one associates with traditional book arts. However, the addition of photographic elements added a sense of visual poetry and movement to each piece and gave dynamism to the exhibition as a whole. One of my favorite pieces was “Cloud Book Study” by Heidi Neilson. The piece consisted of a book and a short video, and the video shows the book being paged through at high speed. The high speed reveals a time-lapse film of clouds across the pages of the book, in which each page spread is a single frame of the film. The film shows the movement of the clouds across the sky in a way you couldn’t achieve by thumbing the book on your own. (see picture below)
I also found the themes of social commentary, landscape and urbanism, and pop culture running through the show to be both relevant and interesting. Among these, I thought “Farewell My Homeland”, a book of photographs printed on silk, powerfully portrayed the fear, hope, and despair experienced by people forced to leave their homeland. For me, the message was solidified through the contrast of the dark imagery with the lightness of the silk medium. Another one of my favorite pieces was “DUMBO Comic” by Paul Clay, which explored the history of Brooklyn's DUMBO district in comic book form. Using a familiar and inviting storytelling method, the artist provides a unique commentary on urban planning, quality of life, and the visual impact of the street level built environment. (see picture below)
Overall, I found “The Un(framed) Photograph" to be both thought provoking and beautiful. I really enjoyed the interactive side of the exhibit, and would encourage everyone to come and see it for themselves!