|
Family Portraits:
note
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
#10
#11
#12
#13
#14
#15
#16
mail
blogger
|
|
Family Portraits (2005)
I have always had difficulties with connecting with others. Entering other people's private spaces I often became uncomfortable. But I'm not a teenager anymore and I felt an urge to deal with this fear. So the Family Portraits project came into my mind. I wanted to play with this rather childish phobia and perhaps by doing so overcome it.
The project is multi-layered: I started it by approaching passersby to take my portraits in front of numerous New York City landmarks, in an attempt to mock tourist aesthetics. Then, I brought these (framed) images to Jazz on the Park hostel, and left them there (with instruction attached on the back of the frames) to let travelers take my pictures home. The travelers were to hang the picture on their wall, photograph them with/without other people in front of my portrait, and send me the photograph they took. Artistic direction was entirely upon these who took my pictures.
At the end I was placed into the other people's private realm. As a result I have become connected to these other people in a peculiar way. It also is strangely touching to see myself in those family portraits from unknown places.
Note:
I did this piece for "affair" exhibition we had at a youth hostel. It was too complicated I guess. Nobody but one ever sent me back the pictures, even though 30 something pictures I brought to the hostel were all gone. So, two weeks before the show I was frantically asking friends for help. Some of them could do it, and some of them pass the pictures to their friends.
|