7.20.2008

On Portraits

The postmodernist eye scrutinizes the gaze of the portrait with its double claims to originality "the meeting of two subjectivities"--that of the portrayed and portrayer--the genre embodies the notion of uniqueness that has been challenged in the 20th century"
--Melissa Feldman from Face Off: The Portrait in Recent Art

A portrait of a person is not a fact, but an opinion. By removing the camera from the photobooth and replacing it with human eyes and hands--this sentiment or perspective can be even more distinct.

This was immediately apparent when I created the first model of the photobooth in March of 2007 at an exhibition at Space 1026. This booth was "staffed" by a variety of artists who all observed and drew in different styles - or opinions.

I built this booth without a notion of what would happen inside - I created the object, yet the experience of being allowed this luxury to observe with impunity and to share an intimate moment with a complete stranger, without introduction or fanfare was an amazing experience which I hope to recreate at Bucks County Community College.

"Portraits are always of a person at a specific instant. They are never about the future."
Jan Grover in Portrait Theory by David Attie

Read about the photobooth (scroll down text in review) on the artblog site, in a writeup by Andrea Kirsch here

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