At a time when snow is piling up in Quebec City, another ype of whiteness can be seen at the Medusa complex in Quebec City. séries blanches, 2006-2008 [white series, 2006-2008] is a serie of photograms created by contemporary artist Diane Morin.
If you don’t already know, a photogram is an image made by placing objects on a photo-sensitive surface that is then exposed to light. The following picture is a typical picture obtained by this process. [Obtained via Wikipedia]
That’s called a photogram without any artistic merit.
Surrealist artist Man Ray created many photograms in the early 20th century. Called rayograms, some of his works can be seen on the site of the George Eastman House.
Like anything obtained by playing with photo-sensitive material, these works of art are by definition affected by light. One has to be precise when calculating time of exposure and distance to get the wanted results.
In séries blanches, 2006-2008, Diane Morin has worked on those two aspects linked to the technique by changing the way light is used and the movements required to leave an imprint on the film.
By working this way, she tries to underscore the more or less adequate ability of the mecanisms used to create the works of art.
To appreciate her work, one approach could be to question oneself on repetition in art. Do you believe an artist using repeatedly the same techniques can obtain similar results?
That’s the goal of Morin’s experiences in these photograms. Constructed around a mecanical device that created automatically the same movements, she moves the source of light in a similar fashion. However, even by repeating herself, different works of art were created. Isn’t this a good excuse to ponder for example about days gone by that are so similar yet so different at the same time?
The show can be seen at VU at Medusa Complex in Quebec City.
Admission is free.
The opening hours are from noon to 5PM, Wednesday to Sunday, until April 13th 2008.
All the pictures from séries blanches, 2006-2008 are copyrighted by Diane Morin. More information is available on her Web site.
Narrative Figuration is a French artistic movement that began in the early sixties. It was a reaction to abstract art and pop-art. One of its goals was to show the contemporary reality of the artists in a complex manner. Americans had a similar movement named New Realism by art critic Sidney Tillim.