lux nova, a low tech explosion
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by Dianne Bos and Jennifer Long
- May 2001 York Quay Gallery 235 Queens Quay West Toronto, Ontario |
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Exhibiting
Artists: |
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| Lux
nova is a medieval term for the stellar explosion of interior light created
by stained glass windows. The work selected for this exhibition embodies
this energy and magic. Imparting views not normally visible to the human
eye, the artists’ manipulations of light yield new ways of perceiving
familiar subject matter. The photographs in Lux Nova: A Low Tech Explosion
are produced with pinhole cameras, toy cameras, photograms and even
a Kirlian charge device. First off, I want to address this "low tech photography" label. I’m worried people may think of low tech as a lesser medium than "hi tech" and in this case it’s not. We’re talking about a genre of photographic tools that utilize the fundamental properties of light and optics. In the right hands they can be used to create "high art," or at least very original imagery. Photogram, pinhole and plastic or toy cameras are all photographic devices that have been lumped into this category. Many contemporary artists are discreetly using these techniques. In the past year pinhole photography strutted its stuff in the world art arena. The Carnegie International exhibition in Pittsburgh included Ann Hamilton’s mouth pinhole photographs, and one of the finalists for Britain’s prestigious Turner Prize, Steven Pippins, converted a washing machine into a pinhole camera and even a photo processing device. It’s been said that this renaissance of "low tech" is a reaction against the digital. Maybe it is, in part. How the heck is a digital image created? Can you make a digital camera at home? Sure there’s a few nerds out there who can, but I doubt if you can do it with things found in a kitchen, as you can with a pinhole camera. Here’s the recipe: 1 empty coffee can (poke one small nail hole in side), 1 piece of hockey tape to cover the hole, tinfoil to cover the top and 1 elastic band to keep the tinfoil snug on top. You need a darkroom to load the photographic paper into the can and to process the photograph. Oh, and you need those wonderful rays of light to pour through that tiny hole and project the outside world inside your can. Last year, when I curated Toy (Camera) Stories (Toronto, May 2000), I asked the photographers to give me a brief statement about why, in this era of advanced technology, they enjoyed using this unpredictable device. I found there was a universal vibe running through all their comments. Photographer Margaret Mulligan summed it up best when commenting on her Holga, "Best of all is the quality it imparts on the image; the visual equivalent of a belt of good scotch, when life becomes real and unreal at the same moment." I hope the work by the Lux Nova artists has perhaps inspired you to toss your digital camera and become a photography fundamentalist. At the very least they have brilliantly illuminated the creative potential of these techniques. Dianne Bos Co-curator for Lux Nova: A Low Tech Explosion |
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