PREVIEW
PREVENTION OF IMAGE DEMISE THROUGH A RE-PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESS
Arion Predika
Runs until May 31
Plus-15 Window Exhibition
Images of a mysterious silhouetted figure dominate one window in the Plus-15 corridor that connects the Centre for Performing Arts with the Calgary Convention Centre.
Those images are part of an installation, titled Prevention of Image Demise Through a Re-photographic Process, by American-born, Calgary-based photographer and video artist Arion Predika. The display represents an intellectual exploration of the life cycle of photography and the degradation of imagery over time.
"As time itself cannot be documented on film, we can photograph the deterioration or change of physical items over time," says Predika. "This provides the evidence that over time, chaos and order interact. Manmade objects left to nature’s entropy often fail to maintain a neutral state of chaos. That is, they rot away, are shot at, are burned, are moved or are relocated to unknown destinations."
Predika documents these objects over time, creating a series of images. He notes that the images within the series are physical objects derived from chemical or digital means, which, if left to nature and time, will deteriorate. Deterioration of the image can be avoided with the help of storage or a proper display environment.
Predika’s installation of photos and ink-jet reproductions started with a photograph of his brother, in silhouette, at a drab apartment building. That image was then reproduced in multiples using a photocopier and affixed to the cement surface of the Mission Bridge. Predika then photographed the photocopies left on the bridge, creating a new series of images to be displayed with the original in his Plus-15 installation.
"I've always been interested in the camera's ability to capture time and create abstractions of reality," says Predika. "There's too much reality anyway."
The resulting installation of images within images begs a number of broader questions: How is "art" defined? What does a decaying poster left on a bridge tell us about our impulse to preserve art? And why are millions of paintings, prints and photographs carefully archived in galleries and museums, only to remain forever out of sight from the viewing public?
"When the image is stored indefinitely, the image suffers a death from view," says Predika. "Also, if a displayed image is destroyed by vandals, removed by authority or destroyed by the action of time, it can also be considered dead from view. This is called image demise… a typical fate brought upon the physical image by order or destruction."
Predika says that if the image is re-photographed, and again exists as a latent image and finally a physical object, then it has avoided image demise by the imposition of neutral chaos, with the expectation of display of the newly formed image of a previous image.
"Image demise is a possibility if the new image is placed in storage or destroyed. So, if this new image is again re-photographed and processed, it is able to avoid image demise for at least another round," he says.
The reception for Arion Predika’s Plus-15 exhibit will take place on April 17. Call The New Gallery at 233-2399 for more information. |
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