tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935046131385109105.post547603047951495480..comments2024-03-26T23:27:56.399-07:00Comments on B: Bill Miller: What Was He Thinking?Blake Andrewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07187987264904729243noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935046131385109105.post-27888790360740612242011-09-29T11:18:09.162-07:002011-09-29T11:18:09.162-07:00Anonymous may be partially correct: These pictures...Anonymous may be partially correct: These pictures are sort of garbage. I’ve been shooting this SX-70 film my whole life and from my experience at least 5% of the time the images fail for one reason or another. Sometimes the chemistry is old and sticky. Sometimes the camera malfunctions. It’s a part of using Polaroid and over time you stop noticing. The ruined Polaroids get discarded with the packaging, a statistical casualty of such a complicated mechanism. It was only when my statistical casualties jumped to nearly 100% that I realized that even against my will, this camera was making, totally by chance, some interesting, and occasionally beautiful pictures. It’s this kind of unpredictability that makes old cameras and processes appealing and it wasn’t until I noticed what was happening that I started saving them. I must have thrown out scores of ruined Polaroids over the years. I imagine that millions around the world have probably been discarded, unappreciated, since that camera was first introduced 39 years ago.<br /><br />Now, I'm not sure whether intent constitutes art is a good argument to have here. Everything that's ever been photographed has existed in the world before that moment. We don't create the image, only the frame. My broken Polaroid camera is a tool that works a certain way (think of a Diana). Not the way it was intended but in a way that destroys pictures. I work within that constraint to make these pictures. The things I point the camera at become the palette for the mangles pictures. If you look at the tumblr blog you can see the variety of pictures I end up with. Of the 50 or so polaroids that I found worthy of sharing there are probably 5 different categories of ruined polaroids. All of them use light and a photographic process so are probably photographs but I think the question of what is a photograph is a huge one surrounding this project, especially because so many of them can be described as "painterly." This is the concept. An beloved but antiquated photographic medium gets a second chance and becomes the intersection of photography and abstract expressionist painting.William Millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11947469106880739074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935046131385109105.post-42787064130479040682011-09-28T08:11:17.392-07:002011-09-28T08:11:17.392-07:00Christian says:
As visual objects I find these v...Christian says:<br /><br /><br />As visual objects I find these very pleasing. It seems tough to escape the "what is art" conversation. I don't have a personal answer that I feel could stand up to rational scrutiny nor that would lean towards an objective, not subjective, stance. <br /><br />However I think some interesting questions on that topic are raised by these images. <br /><br />1. Is it possible to be art when the creator of the piece is not in control of the entire result? As an outside example, John Cage's performance where the sustain pedal is held on a piano but no keys are pressed. The eventual resulting sounds are all the piano strings vibrating in response to the audience's small sounds (movements, coughs, mutterings). Here the creator is intentionally wielding a tool with the intended outcome being 'art' but his use of the tool allows chaos to largely influence the result. <br /><br />2. A discussion has started about whether this is 'photography.' I personally think that if Miller's camera is pointed at the same subject in approximately the same lighting twice, and if the resulting images are strikingly similar, then it would be a form of photography since that would imply that these abstractions are derived from the lens's input. If not, then perhaps calling this more akin to painting might be appropriate (but now we're haggling over the proper title to apply to the technique - maybe not too important?)<br /><br />3. Are these works purely visual or is there concept around them? It's difficult to point at conceptual art of any sort and declare it "not art." But I am curious if (tying into the comment above by Mortimer) Miller's response to criticism would be focused on the graphic/visual qualities (which I personally find evocative) or if these pieces are intended in part to be a piece of dialog or statement where the statement/conversation is integral to the piece being 'art' (Richard Prince comes to mind, but surely there are much better examples).<br /><br />I'm very curious how opinions fall out on these topics. Personally, I like the pieces regardless of where they fall in the academic "is it art?" debate.Blake Andrewshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07187987264904729243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935046131385109105.post-16433278245017267102011-09-27T20:57:02.680-07:002011-09-27T20:57:02.680-07:00To compare abstract art made through the chance op...To compare abstract art made through the chance operations of broken equipment to my paintings is an insult. Stand in front of one of my paintings until you understand the difference.Mark Rothkonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935046131385109105.post-11245171280857593582011-09-26T21:30:15.243-07:002011-09-26T21:30:15.243-07:00I love these pictures, they are very much like abs...I love these pictures, they are very much like abstract expressionist paintings. See the work of Helen Frankenthaler and Mark Rothko (not the contributor above, but the painter).Marilyn Andrewsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935046131385109105.post-61205250366330228402011-09-26T16:57:28.985-07:002011-09-26T16:57:28.985-07:00Photograph: From the Greek words phos meaning &quo...Photograph: From the Greek words phos meaning "light", and graphis meaning "ruthless gears and rollers"Blake Andrewshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07187987264904729243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935046131385109105.post-11528488271864502632011-09-26T15:05:17.135-07:002011-09-26T15:05:17.135-07:00I don’t find the idea or the results very interest...I don’t find the idea or the results very interesting.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935046131385109105.post-91425358279716764042011-09-26T06:35:59.040-07:002011-09-26T06:35:59.040-07:00It's relatively easy to create this sort of th...It's relatively easy to create this sort of thing using the same technique Miller uses. It is however very difficult to withstand the criticism that ensues. The true artist will be able to let his work stand on it's own and not take anything personally. An artist has to view his own work like it's a complete sentence written on the page of a book. It's there for everyone to see and nobody can change it.Mortimer Lake Jacksonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935046131385109105.post-89797970096464161792011-09-25T20:10:16.356-07:002011-09-25T20:10:16.356-07:00beauty in the eye.... etc....
to my thinking:
a...beauty in the eye.... etc.... <br /><br />to my thinking:<br /><br />abstract color imagery(post expressionist)... yes<br />art.... yes<br />attractive, interesting.... very subjectively yes<br />photography.... no (just used emulsion rather than paint).SRnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935046131385109105.post-33399197042711004052011-09-25T17:15:54.480-07:002011-09-25T17:15:54.480-07:00Sorry about not using my name the first time. I wa...Sorry about not using my name the first time. I was pissed.Mark Rothkonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935046131385109105.post-70552965523861911912011-09-25T16:55:52.857-07:002011-09-25T16:55:52.857-07:00@Anonymous, If you're going to trash someone&#...@Anonymous, If you're going to trash someone's photos you should have the balls to put your name behind it.Blake Andrewshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07187987264904729243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935046131385109105.post-56942841820576734692011-09-25T09:11:10.522-07:002011-09-25T09:11:10.522-07:00Garbage. Pure and simple, no matter what words you...Garbage. Pure and simple, no matter what words you put with them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com