Instruments of Empire

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JC Penney © Brian Ulrich

"In the eyes of empire builders men are not men but instruments."

– Napoleon Bonaparte

Thursday night is the opening of my two-person show with Brian Ulrich, Instruments of Empire, at Caption Gallery in Brooklyn. The exhibition will feature new work from my Stranded series and Brian’s Dark Stores series, plus work we created specifically for the show where we reference each other’s projects.

On the surface our two series couldn’t be more different; one, portraits of stranded motorists and the other environmental landscapes of abandoned box stores. Look deeper and you’ll see two artists engaged in long-term projects examining the real and metaphorical effects of a country strained by the collapse and corruption of our social institutions. This timely and telling exhibition of photographs debuts as the economic crisis continues and Americans are forced to reexamine their long held assumptions of entitlement, privilege and permanence.

Here are the details:

Instruments of Empire: Photographs by Amy Stein and Brian Ulrich
January 28 – March 25
Caption Gallery
55 Washington Street, No. 802
Brooklyn, NY

Opening Reception: January 28, 6:30pm – 8:00pm

In addition to the photographs, Brian and I are planning some additional programming surprises during the run of this exhibition. Stay tuned and see you at the opening.

Spam Wins

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I started this blog four years ago this June. In that time I've chronicled my life fresh from grad school to something close to an "emerged" artist. Lately, I have been contemplating whether or not to continue publishing as my day is pretty much filled with my job as a full time artist and teacher. I've decided to keep it going, but I've been looking for ways to trim blog time and make my life a little easier. First thing to go, sadly, is the ability to comment on this site. There is just too much comment spam and not enough real dialogue to warrant keeping the feature active. Please see my Facebook page for some more of my thinking on this.

MLK

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Today is Martin Luther King Day. Few have contributed more to the American experience than MLK and while his legacy is often defined by his tireless fight for civil rights, it should not be forgotten that he was a pacifist to the core and an outspoken opponent of the Vietnam War.

Listen to his Beyond Vietnam -- A Time to Break Silence speech delivered on April 4, 1967 at the Riverside Church in New York City.

William Greiner Auctioning Print and Book for Haitian Relief

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Bingo Board, Luling La 1990 print up for auction

The Reposed up for auction

The super talented William Greiner is auctioning a $500 print & $40 book on eBay with all proceeds going to American Red Cross Haitian Relief.

Haiti

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The earthquake in Haiti is being called the disaster of the century and many on the ground believe the death toll could be in the tens of thousands. What is needed most is money. And you have it. Please GIVE NOW to the Yele Haiti Earthquake Fund. 100% of funds raised goes to the relief operation.

The Third & The Seventh

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This short film by Alex Roman is done entirely with CGI animation. From Alex:

A FULL-CG animated piece that tries to illustrate architecture art across a photographic point of view where main subjects are already-built spaces. Sometimes in an abstract way. Sometimes surreal.

Watch it at full screen for best effect.

Three Shows and a Trip to Woodstock

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Still Life with Banana, Purse and Change © Justine Reyes

The holiday season is behind us and I'm very much looking forward to the first openings of the new year. Good friends Tim Briner, Ruben Natal-San Miguel, and Justine Reyes all have what promise to be stellar shows opening this week.

I met Tim Briner in 2007 days before he was about to set off on his year long trip exploring small town America. During his trip he sent me many postcards from the road written on the side of Boont Amber Ale beer cases. He's back from the boonies and set to debut his impressive new work from the Boonville series.

Boonville | Tim Briner
Jan 7- Feb 27
Daniel Cooney Gallery
511 West 25th Street, Suite 506

Opening Reception: Thursday, Jan 7, 6-8pm

Ruben Natal-San Miguel is one of the most genuine, big-hearted people you could meet. He loves photography and photographers, and I bet if you come to his show opening and say hello he'll love you too. He's curating the group show Versus which opens at Hous Project, also on Thursday. Many of my favorite contemporary photographers will be represented including Hank Willis Thomas, Matthew Pillsbury, Phillip Toledano, and fellow POCers Cara Phillips and Brian Ulrich.

Versus | Curated by Ruben Natal-San Miguel
Jan 7 - Mar 8
Hous Projects
21 Howard Street, 2nd floor

Opening Reception: Thursday, Jan 7, 6-10pm

The weekend promises even more great photography. Justine Reyes' gorgeous (trust me, I've seen them, these prints are gorgeous) work from her Vanitas series will be on view at the Center for Photography at Woodstock beginning Saturday. I'm planning on gassing up my car and getting my ass up there for the opening. And, you should too!

Vanitas | Justine Reyes
Jan 9 - Feb 28
Center for Photography at Woodstock
59 Tinker Street
Woodstock, NY

Opening Reception: Saturday, January 9, 5-8pm

All of this great work should give pause to the Chicken Little's navel-gazing of late about the death of photography.

Thoughtography

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Nikola Tesla's 'thought projector'

Mind Hacks points to an article in Fortean Times that details efforts in the early history of photography to capture the "psychic project­ion of images directly onto film." Before you laugh and think thoughtography in the same quackish vein as spirit photography do note that one of humanity's greatest minds, Nikola Tesla, was convinced he could devise a means to capture cerebrated impulses like light on a sensitive medium.

The Fortean story references many 'thoughtoraphic' efforts, but I found the story of the Astral Cat most compelling.

"Astral Cat"

“From the members of the Camera Club, seven of those having greatest animal magnetism and greatest power of mental concentrat­ion were chosen for the experiment. Connection was made from the eye of these observers to the corresponding parts of the lens; then all were to remain in utter darkness and perfect silence, each person fixing his mind on a cat. They were not to think of any particular cat, but of a cat as represented by the innate idea of the mind or ego itself. This was highly important, for the purpose of Mr. Marvin was not simply to fix by photography an ephemeral recollection [..] it was to bring out the impression of ultimate feline reality. The innate image in the mind was the object desired. One man’s thought of a cat would be individual, ephemeral, a recollection of some cat which he had some time seen, and which by the mind’s eye would be seen again. From seven ideals, sympathetically combined, the true cat would be developed. This combination is the essence of sym­psycho­graphy , a term suggested by Prof. Amos Gridley, of Alcalde… The personal equation would be measurably eliminated in sym­psycho­graphy, while the cat of the human innate idea, the astral cat, the cat which ‘never was on sea or land’, but in accordance with which all cats have been brought into incarnation, would be more or less perfectly disclosed.”

Read the full article.

Colonialism Through the Lens of a Camera

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Agnes Mary Hutchins, born in Zanzibar, 16 May/09

Northwestern University Library has made available The Humphrey Winterton Collection of East African Photographs: 1860-1960, an online database of over 7,000 photographs documenting the European colonization of East Africa. Be warned, the collection is rife with uncomfortable photos in the tradition of The People of India and the library spends a great many words attempting to establish a historical context for the images.

Beyond the typical visual documents you'd expect to find in a collection of colonial-era photographs are some truly amazing landscape and environmental images of East Africa.

The two peaks of Kilimanjaro in the distance

Dongola (gazzelle)

A Most Unusual Camera

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