Tan House on Stilts, 2019
Casebere is an artist from detroit using sculpture and photography to explore themes such as isolation, politics, the emotions of space and global warming. Casebere prints his photos very large, prints appear to be at least 2ft by 3ft ranging up to large scale 6ft prints.This comes in contrast to the reality of his subject matter, witch are in fact smaller models that he creates in his studio. Casebere remarks of his method "I work from scratch, everything you see is created by the artist" (Haus der Kunst, 2016).
I find Caseberes work incredibly lonely and surreal. It's uncanny in its ability to look so real, but no matter how much I try to allow myself to be taken in by the visual, to suspend my disbelieving and let the space be real, there's always a part of me that knows something is wrong. I imagine these spaces as a reality and place myself within them and the experience of the loneliness and isolation. This is a similar experience to what my own work should portray, and why I go out of my way to find spaces that are created to only be existed within transitional, not as a space for a community, a space of transience, that one should move quickly from and not linger. Caseberes spaces are, on the contrary, made for lingering. His more recent work, inspired by real life architectural designs and spaces, though somewhat removed by the reworking of Caseberes hand, invite you to pause and experience the space, he encourages the eye to move around the space through lines and surface that in turn act as a playground for the light.
Casaberes work is analysed in "After Taste: Expanded practice in interior design" (2012) and I find it interesting that Wienthall (2012) should reference Freuds "The Uncanny" while doing so, it seems I can not escape Freud during my research. Wienhall describes Caseberes models as "doubles" of the architecture that inspires him, and he is keen to implore that this does not mean copy. He describes a "Crisis of Identity - that witch was once complete, known and stable is now partial, haunting and volatile". With this sentence I am reminded of Freud's description of the Uncanny as something close to what we recognise but somehow removed (I am paraphrasing greatly here). Wiesenthal goes on to describe a term mentioned by Freud, but not explored fully, that he believes belongs in the lexicon of the "Spatial Uncanny": Locus Suspectus. This seems like a great descriptor of my project and may even make a great title, alluding to the enigmatic and taboo nature of my subject.
"The practice of building and photographing models allows artists to contemplate their subject by physically interacting with "Them" over a period of time. The models serve as abstract stand-ins for previous ways of representing the subject, prompting viewers to questions how images become loaded with intentions and how this affects their own thoughts about the subject" (Hirsch, 2017)
Moving forward with my own work, and given the current circumstances of the pandemic, it seems exploring model making would be a great pursuit for me now. For Casabere, the creation of his own models to photograph has allowed him to explore how a space works, and photograph it ways that may not be possible in its real-life counterpart. Of course Casabere however has had decades to perfect his model making skills, and I do not have such time, so creating the highly detailed work he has done may not be possible. The saving grace for me may come in the form of lighting, as shown in my visual research, many darkrooms, well they are just that... dark! The lighting is very limited, witch could help me to hide mistakes and lack of detail, so could work a great deal in my favour.
Haus der Kunst (2018). Exhibition film — James Casebere. Fugitive. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MR7IDPLMdWc [Accessed 29 March. 2020].
Galerie Templon (2016). JAMES CASEBERE, Emotional Architecture, Galerie TemplonJ. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVBawrLs3Fs [Accessed 29 March. 2020].
Kleinman, K., Merwood-Salisbury, J. and Weinthal, L., 2012.After Taste. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, p.165.
Hirsch, R., 2017.Seizing The Light. Florence, UNKNOWN: Focal Press, p.498.
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