Julian Konczak: 25 – Birth and Decay
Artist(s):
Title:
- 25 – Birth and Decay
Exhibition:
Creation Year:
- 2007
Medium:
- Time-sliced photographic representation of landscape created in Flash
Category:
Artist Statement:
Birth and Decay invites the audience to explore a time-sliced anatomy of landscape as it cycles through the inevitable rhythm of change. The vista is hidden, but the proximity and exploded imagery give us an intimate relationship with the environment. The birth-life-decay-death cycle is an inevitable performance that drives the movement of time on this planet. The images offer 25 instances of the same subject, the eye decoding multiplicity and diversity. My work orients itself around an examination of the visual world that surrounds us and the use of imaging technologies to explore our perceptions. I draw attention to the processes, textures, and rhythms that we take for granted and often overlook. Each work represents a personal journey either through physical space or a closer examination of the world that surrounds me. The composition of the raw material that I gather on field trips (video, stills, or sound samples) involves an evocation of an ambience, a reconstruction of the world. With a sense of simplicity and directness, I use my tools to visually re-create what I see with my eyes. Through montaging this raw material in video, interactive environments, and print, the elements of the image gain a new and distinctive meaning. The process involves working with an initial conceptual idea and then allowing the happenstance of image creation to define the content. The visual qualities of the image are paramount; the quality of light and tonal range become key factors in deciding when to press the shutter. When subject to the vagaries of weather, the works inevitably become driven by a subjective immersion within an environment. Whether creating work within walking distance of my studio, revisiting the same places throughout the seasons, or travelling across the globe, these lens-based observations are encounters with the unpredictable.
Technical Information:
The work uses basic web technology to allow users to create their own visual fields, the emphasis of the work being to draw the audience into an exploded visual representation of a landscape. The tools are a Nikon digital camera, Adobe Photoshop CS2, and Macromedia Flash MX 2004.
