Uta Barth

"I have never been interested in making a photograph that describes what the world I live in looks like, but I am interested in what pictures (of the world) look like. I am interested in the conventions of picture making, in the desire to picture the world and in our relationship, our continual love for and fascination with pictures." Uta Barth

Several days ago I vaguely derided the MacArthur Foundation for awarding .5 million to Uta Barth. Having not seen her work, it struck me initially as a formalist academic triviality. I was compelled to examine my over-reactive self, and looked further into the work and the artist. I've learned that Barth is thoughtful, engaged photographer. Whether it is sane to lavishly compensate 'geniuses' when so many others labor fruitlessly is altogether another question.

brothers

brothers, a gallery on Flickr.

indian summer

indian summer, a gallery on Flickr.

Selections from the group 'You are not a dinosaur.'

"All Love is Sweet"

Our group has to been committed to numerous other artistic mediums from its beginnings. Though we’re by no means Luddites, letterpress seems aptly ‘dinosauric.’ Lunalux owner Jenni Undis has crafted a lovely rebuttal to the cynical efforts of (some) Minnesotans to codify discrimination this November. All proceeds save for material costs support Minnesotans United for all Families. Jenni will also be staging two events this coming week; another engaging Open Field night this Thursday 8.16, and Stationery Sunday at Lunalux this weekend. Stop by, and say an appreciative “rawr.”

Lunalux, 1618 Harmon Place, Minneapolis, MN 55403. Tel. 612-373-0526. info@lunalux.com

Valia Fetisov

This evocative image by Valia Fetisov reminded me, uncomfortably, of myself, and of my young nephew who inherited my vaguely spastic, "off on his own trip but still trying to engage" tendencies. 'Dinosaur' is rarely about shrill pronouncements of difference; it tries to privilege photographs that show our common bonds, rather than what divides and isolates us. T.W.

"Useless, useless."

I was talking with Mike today about recent work he’s doing in rural Minnesota. As he enthused over “great faces, mud, twisted metal, beer and very loud engines” and the boys who miraculously get their crippled vehicles back in the hunt, I wondered whether they’re engaged in a right of passage to nowhere- this from the college boy one rung shy of a homeless shelter. Possibly due to that current malaise, I was highly affected by Mike’s image of the cratered pick-up #185. Something forlorn about the isolation, the jinkiness here. "Useless, useless" as Booth said. dvorakphotography.com

Untilted; Matthew Tammaro

After seeing this portrait again and again, I'm persuaded that Matthew Tammaro has made nothing less here than a Mona Lisa for the digital age.
matthewtammaro.com

"...ain't gonna rule my mind no more."

I was advised amid some recent difficult circumstances, to surround myself with positive images; the things that I love, or that are inspiring, or others that are just opaquely, tangentially meaningful. Thereby these talismans might present a call to the universe for relief. Then I realized that I've been surrounding myself with just such images for as long as I've managed this group. I'm grateful every day to wade through so many heartfelt works that despite great turbulence have afforded tremendous relief. T.W. 7.8.12

Osama Esid: Mississippi River Photo Shoot, 6.1.12

DEET (diethylmetatoluamide).

"The beauty of nocturnal air raids," Robin Cracknell

Robin Cracknell makes images that are at once highly personal, and yet still deeply accessible. Combining fragments, gestures, and poignant ambiguities of his own pictures with degraded film stock ("usually discoloured strips, often caked in old splicing cement, tape, sometimes with script etc scratched into them")- his works look as though they were hastily retrieved from some significant disaster. I'm exhausted by instagram and similar 'app's' capacity to make a generally dull image "cool." Efforts like Robin's, while mediated yes, are far less cynical and much more genuinely warm.T.W. 7.1.12 'the beauty of nocturnal air raids' on Flickr

You are not a dinosaur 3.

You are not a dinosaur 3., a gallery on Flickr.

Third installment of selections from the group "You are not a dinosaur."