I am pretty sure Wendy recommended this to me in S&O after A2 to try to get me to move away from the pretty ‘studio practise’ I struggled to see beyond then. But I can’t find it mentioned, although for some reason that site it is a bit muddled nowadays, no idea how or why that happened. I have the book though and I’m sure it was after Wendy mentioned it. The other day, fellow OCA L3 student Elizabeth (who I met on a study visit over the weekend) mentioned Bernard’s The Canary and the Hammer. I’d love to look at this book but must make do with what I can find online for now. (I shall ask the photography writer I’m borrowing The Coast from if he’s got this too…)
A pertinent sentence from the FT review:
“The art market is so focused on creating a linear narrative,” says Barnard, who teaches at the University of South Wales. “I wanted to do the complete opposite.” Her aim is to showcase “a very fragmented world” that stimulates and excites. Using a range of aesthetics — traditional landscapes, portraits and still life, plus archival material and digital imagery — she goes on “a personal journey” through the troubled world of gold over different periods in its complex history.’ (Raval, 2019)
Raval, A (2019) Photographer Lisa Barnard’s personal journey through the world of gold Financial Times, http://www.FT.com [online] Available at: https://www.ft.com/content/64356a8a-b8af-11e9-8a88-aa6628ac896c (Accessed 21/01/2020)
Brief comments re what I saw when looking at it again the other day:
- I see where some of my influences have come from, eg.
- An interest in ruined images
- There is a picture of a bare wall which reminds me of a frame I’ve screenshotted from the end of a film on nuclear war -they are pretty much the same picture.
- I like the repetition – only the increased water/mould mark on the photo of Thatcher changes (love this)
- Focus on broken, discarded, forgotten bits of life
- The antithesis of the toothpaste advert image/advertising
- She keeps text out of the centre – an essay by Sarah James at the end.
- Wonderful use of light – not always pretty but often is
- A good reminder as I work on A3 – and stopped me from going too far in an unhelpful or unsatisfying direction
Thanks to Elizabeth for reminding me of Bernard’s name.
SJField - OCA Level Three Study Blog 