I started this blog during my study abroad in Florence, Italy. In my first post I wrote about new awareness of photographers Sally Mann and Francesca Woodman. Three years later, Mann and Woodman have become enormous inspirations
in my photography work.
After finishing my Independent Student Project (ISP) I can now add the three following individuals to my ongoing list of inspiring artists: photographers Karel Cudlin and Pavel Dias and multi-medium artist Jiri Kovanda. Having the opportunity to simply just talk to such acclaim Prague artists was an essential component of my overall amazing study abroad experience.
For my ISP, I focused on genuis loci, the spirit of a place. Here is a segment of my artist statement:
The
places of historical happenings maintain a presiding spirit. Such spirits are
an embalmment of the monumental incidents which have impacted how an individual
or community views a place. The spirit of the place is visual in the piles of
incidents stacked on top of each other according to their occurrence in time.
The more occurrences a place conceals, the throbbing presence of the spirit is
felt. Situating oneself within a specific place is usually from having an
acknowledgment of previous incidents in the imaginary stacked pile. How a place
proves its personal attachment to individuals or larger social circles is its
ability to reveal evidence of historical documentation. Therefore, the personal
attachment one has with a specific area is due to an acknowledgment of the
historical past and
the representation of the pervading spirit.
With the concept of an enduring spirit in mind, I asked the three artists I spoke to about a specific place that was or is meaningful towards them during life under Communism. I then documented each place, keeping in mine of the history and the interviewed individual's relationship to the area, using black and white film and ink sketches. My final products are three flip books, one for each artists, consisting of quotes from the interview and my documentary material.
