![[Valid RSS]](valid-rss.png "Validate my RSS feed")
« Push Gallery: Pinup Show | Main | An Evening with Dumperfoo, Part One »
Spraygraphic Interview with Photographer Rob Carter
By Spraygraphic | March 20, 2010
Spraygraphic Interview with Photographer Rob Carter
SG: Please tell us about yourself. Where do you currently live and work?
RC: I was born in Worcester, England, and moved to New York in 2000 to do an MFA at Hunter College. At that time I was making paintings, but after a year and a half here I made video, film and photography my focus. After grad school I decided to stay in the US and currently live and work in Brooklyn’s Chinatown.
SG: What mediums do you work with?
RC: I suppose I don’t really think of them as mediums because the final product is usually a video or photograph, but in the process of making my work I use a wide variety of things. Most of the work involves some kind of printed out imagery, sometimes from books, but I also make use of soil, seeds, water, and fire.
SG: What kind of equipment do you use?
RC: Other than a bunch of studio lighting equipment, I basically use the following: an 8×10 view camera, a 4×5 view camera, digital SLRs, an audio recorder and microphones, an inkjet printer, a scanner, a Mac computer, and a troop of hard-drives.
SG: Describe your working process when creating a new work.
RC: Recent work has tended to evolve over a long period, usually about a year. Whether photography or video the process involves three phases: research/nail biting/photo collection and manipulation, followed by the physical acts of cutting/growing/animating/photographing, and then finally editing/production and display.
If you are interested in more specific information, the process for making the animations is almost always painstaking but probably not in the way that may appear most obvious – it is the preparation of the imagery, rather than the animation itself that takes the most time. As with many of my recent photographs and videos, once I have my approximate theme or plot, I collect the imagery required and then match it up to create digital composite images. This involves making a number of overlaying ‘pages’ of architectural narrative, usually with a base scene, that is developed upon, i.e. a building may be added to or expanded. During the shooting of the stop-motion animation this process is often reversed. In reality, the added parts are physically removed by me with a knife and moved or folded out frame by frame. This process allows the viewer of the video to witness the process and the evidence of the cut - to see the absence of something prior to its appearance.
SG: What kind of things do you do when you get blocked or find it hard to create something or simply uninspired?
RC: I generally get quite irritable and stressed when that happens and I haven’t figured out a good fix, but it tends to help if I just ‘walk way’. Go for a walk, cook, make a cup of tea… maybe listen to some music or radio.
SG: Where are you currently finding your inspiration?
RC: I am not sure that I would count myself as someone who is ‘inspired’ - I just make my work. Things do materialize or sometimes pop into my head and that’s as a result of lots of factors of experience and research. I don’t feel like my trajectory really comes from much in the art world, it is more related to the world around me, discussions of the day, my childhood and upbringing. However I do think that radio plays an important part…
SG: Can you tell us a little about your stop-motion animation and video work?
RC: I first started working with cut-paper animation in the autumn of 2003. It is a process that I enjoy as it offers the coexistence of both the illusion of imagery and the demonstration of its malleability and frailty both physically and as a carrier of content. This is emphasized by the video soundtracks, for which many of the sounds were recorded in my studio or apartment. I use whatever I have around me or can lay my hands on and seems appropriate to make the sounds: Tupperware, chewing gum, kitchen utensils, household appliances, camera gear, building materials, trash etc. The intention is to activate the movement of the paper, create humour, atmosphere and complete the illusion.
SG: Can you tell us a little about Landscaping I and II?
RC: Both of these series are composed of six large-scale photographs documenting the growth of plants as they emerge from manipulated photographic imagery. Both combine ‘cut-out’ images of famous architecture from very different time periods that contrast leisure, nature, entertainment and class. In Landscaping II the primary scene is a dual image of Burghley House in England and The Coeur d’Alene golf resort in Idaho (USA), with sections cutout to literally reveal the soil below. Over the course of two months these combined scenes were repeatedly photographed, revealing the growth and subsequent interference of the plants with the landscape as they gradually knit the two scenes together. The premise comes from the human desire for interaction and control over the landscape, in terms of art, entertainment and sport. The chosen locations compare the English Stately Home and 18th century landscape gardening of ‘Capability’ Brown, with 20th Century golf course design; specifically Scott Miller’s unique floating green on Lake Coeur d’Alene. Both designs were essentially a sanitization and beautification of the landscape for the wealthy to enjoy, and they both require intensive attention for nature to remain contained and orderly. The six photographs describe a return to the wilderness, where the plants dwarf the landscape and take over the image itself.
SG: Do you bring your camera with you everywhere with you or do you leave it home when you go out on the town?
RC: Funnily enough I just bought my first digital point-and shoot camera today! Until now I never carried my camera around with me as it’s too valuable and heavy. I also don’t really consider myself a ‘photographer’ more like an artist who uses photography. Most of my photographic works are shot with a view camera and limited to the studio, so being armed with a camera feels very separate from my artwork making process. However that may change with my new cheap little Panasonic…
SG: Where has your work been seen?
RC: I have exhibited my work in various locations in Europe and North America: New York, Rome, Madrid, Basel, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Toronto, Charlotte, Chicago, Reno, Cordoba, Milan, Boston, Santander, Jersey City…
SG: Where will it be seen next?
RC: My latest video is still on view at Museum of Art and Design in New York until April 4th. It will also be appearing in the Oslo Screen Festival, and some new photographs will be shown in the “Silverstein Photography Annual” at Bruce Silverstein Gallery, New York, at the end of March.
SG: What is your dream art assignment?
RC: I think it is currently just the freedom and the time to find my own path. I have one of my dreams coming true with an ambitious living sculpture/video project that will be exhibited next year at Art in General, NYC. I probably have more ‘dream art assignments’ in terms of ‘dream access’ – especially access to photographic imagery in the form of historical and scientific collections. However, I also want to travel to India to make a project about cricket!
SG: What is your favorite color?
RC: Pinstripe 
SG: Who is your favorite artist? And Why?
RC: I don’t think I have one. However, I am very excited to see Marina Abramovic’s retrospective at MoMA in New York, which opens this month. I have found her work to be fascinating and provocative ever since I saw a show at the Museum of Modern Art Oxford in 1995. Over the years I have been drawn to certain types of performance art especially from the 70s – I also have a lot of time for the work of Vito Acconci, as well as his architectural practice.
SG: What book/magazine are you reading this week?
RC: I am reading ‘Netherland’ by Joseph O’Neill as well as the latest Brooklyn Rail.
SG: Where is your favorite place to hang out?
RC: For me that varies quite a lot year by year and depending on the season. Maybe the most consistent place I like to hang out is in my kitchen - cooking something. However, it would be remiss of me not admit to a collective love of many bars and pubs in Brooklyn…
Stone on Stone [CLIP] from Rob Carter on Vimeo.
Rob Carter: Video Samples from Rob Carter on Vimeo.
Photo details:
1_UnionTerritory.jpg
Union Territory, 2009, digital c-print, 48 x 35 inches
2_UnionTerritory_Detailof1.jpg
Union Territory [detail], 2009, digital c-print, 48 x 35 inches
3_UnionTerritory.jpg
Union Territory, 2009, digital c-print, 48 x 38.5 inches
4_UnionTerritory.jpg
Union Territory, 2009, digital c-print, 40 x 51 inches
5_StoneOnStone_fire.jpg
Stone on Stone (fire), 2009, digital c-print, 10 x 14.25 inches
6_StoneOnStone_blur.jpg
Stone on Stone (blur), 2009, digital c-print, 12.25 x 10 inches
7_StoneOnStone_GothicHeights.jpg
Stone on Stone (Gothic Heights), 2009, digital c-print, 10 x 12.25 inches
8_Landscaping1_6.jpg
Landscaping I (part 6), 2008, digital c-print, 40 x 65.5 inches
9_Landscaping2_1.jpg
Landscaping II (part 1), 2008, digital c-print, 40 x 71.25 inches
10_Landscaping2_3.jpg
Landscaping II (part 3), 2008, digital c-print, 40 x 74.25 inches
Topics: Artist Interviews, Photography |
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.