Back in 2008 I got asked to be a part of a two person show at the Saratoga Arts Center in Saratoga Springs. I was excited, I was floored, and I was racking my brain for ideas. They decided to invite me based on a submission of “slides” I sent a few months prior; that submission included a gamut of work I had made from years past. What were they expecting?
I had now idea…what I mean is, I had no idea what to put up in the space. It’s big, and it was going to be in the middle of the summer. Great art real estate, so to speak, but it should be a bit bigger than what I’m used to putting up. Frankly I hoped to have the Motion Portrait project up and running by then, but it wasn’t to be. After looking at Barbara Todd’s work (my partner in the show) I decided the ongoing stump project was the best fit.
Here’s a bit of the description.:
I wouldn’t call it an obsession — just an exercise in observation. I had taken to walking in the
woods as much as possible to find something beautiful in the rotting foundations of the forest.
The stumps were grounding, reminding me of my time and place on this earth. Armed with an
old Speed Graphic 4×5 and a flash at the end of a painter’s pole, I ventured out into the woods to
try to capture that feeling — to showcase the most forgotten, but beautiful part of the forest
ecosystem.
After a bit of thinking on how to make it more involving, and a great crit at school, I decided to bring the stumps to the people. To bring the subjects in and light them to be photographed by the audience. I encourage all visitors to train their own lens on the pre-lit stumps in order to engage me on something that has come to be quite personal. With a bit of help from Mike Potts, Thomas Jack Hilton, and Ben Hillis from Feast Gallery, we were able to bring in two, 300+ lbs stumps into the art center, insects and all. They have been awesome about supporting the idea. If you’re in the area this June and July I encourage you to stop into the arts center, take a look at the work, and shoot me feedback. I live off feedback.:-) Here’s a video I took of the exhibit, and a few of the images you can expect to find.
John
The Space Between from John W. Yost on Vimeo.
