civilized ku # 973 ~ reality bites
Thursday, June 2, 2011 at 04:37PM 
Cosmo's LAUNDERMA INC. ~ NYC, NY • click to embiggenSeveral questions / comments are being made, re: the life without the APA pictures, concerning the idea of "reality".
The items in question range from Frank's (no link provided) "Where's the 'reality'", to Markus Spring's, "I am still pondering my position regarding composites. For me it at least stretches the border of photography and probably goes beyond that Barthes' statement about photography telling 'it has been like that'", to Sven's W's. "...have you thought about taking up painting ;-)?"
Good questions / comments all. Especially so, in light of my fervent advocacy for the medium's intrinsic and inexorable relation to / cohort of the real. However ...
... for those who are unaware of the instigating factor behind the life without the APA series, I'll repeat, in very abbreviated form, the primary reason thereof - the APA (Adirondack PARK Agency) is the governing agency, re: the enforcement of the so-called "forever wild" Amendment of the NYS Constitution. The APA's purview covers all land use, public and private, within the boundaries of the Adirondack PARK. Think of it as a gigantic zoning agency.
Over the years the APA has been the much reviled target of host of individual / mercantile / political "adversaries". Some advocate for its total abolishment, others merely want it to be rendered ineffectual. Local politicians campaign against it as a "job killer" and the destroyer of the region's economy - the same-o same-o "let the market decide" BS that has been foisted off on the American public for decades.
That said, a while back I decided to create a series of pictures depicting an as yet unseen 'reality'. By appropriating the medium's intrinsic and inexorable relation to / cohort of the real, i.e. - the medium's 'believability', I am attempting to make 'real' the possible rape of the Adirondacks, via the castration of the APA.
Obviously, I can not time travel to the future in order to picture the reality of the that future. Nor can I positively state, with my constructed visions thereof, what the future reality will be. What I can do, by means of the medium's characteristic of faithfully depicting the real - as opposed to painting ;-), is to make many of the calamitous possibilities look real. Or, at least, look like 'real' possibilities.
There is absolutely no intent to deceive in the making or exhibiting of these pictures. The are not intended to represent Barthes's telling of "it has been like that". The viewers thereof will be well informed of their imagined construction / origins. However, and without doubt, they will viewed by some - APA adversaries in particular - as propaganda and dismissed out of hand as un'real'.
But, so what? What the pictures represent is my opinion on the subject of the APA and the possible outcome of its demise / castration - a 'reality' many fear might come to pass.
Reader Comments (4)
Mark
I think you are whittling away at the edges of your own philosophy. You are creating a constructed or imagined reality – not what the camera catches in a hundredth of a second. I can see that your motivations may be different but the idea of an imagined reality, constructed for artistic purposes, is surely what Jeff Wall et al are all about.
I see where you are coming from and I think your idea of creating a photographic composite is a good way to "sell" the APA message.
But I'm sure that are plenty of real locations [in your State] where development has intruded on the natural environment. Has some-one created images of these areas with the message "this is what happens when you take your eye off the ball".
Does the repeating tombstone in all 4 composites have a special meaning? (It is unreadable at this resolution, but I suspect you could easily read it when viewing a print of "Free Parking".)
Gees, people worry too much. You're creating, in this series, illustrations, yes? Works of the imagination? Clearly labelled as such? And this is not allowed because why? Are people carping because you're using a camera, rather than pen-and-ink, or paint?
Take a deep breath, folks.