Alexandra Santos
ART Habens
do just that, in Close Encounters I attempted to break down the assumption that photography never lies without the use of gimmicks, whilst struggling with Postmodern nihilism. Just like Demand, I don't consider myself a photographer, but a conceptual artist that uses photography as an intrinsic part of my creative process. I also do not proclaim truths, but ironically in Close Encounters I toyed with the idea of photo-reportage. I also borrowed classic symbols of cinema, specially Film Noir (dystopian, alienating backgrounds) and the eschatology of science fiction where in the end nature reclaims the Earth, also the idea and obsession with Aliens. I initially entitled it "Zoo" but later changed it to "Close Encounters" as a direct reference to Spielberg's classic alien encounters film. Here the animal becomes symbolic of the alienated and unknown Nature. Indeed, how do we immediately know about wild animals if not by visiting city Zoos, nature documentaries and photography? I love where Susan Sontag states that the gun has historically been replaced by a camera in the shooting of animals. To me it is very important that the viewer identifies with my work regardless of education level and status but particularly the subject matter I used for Close encounters is to be experienced by the "everyman on the street". In your UNTITLED series, while exhibiting a captivating composition and a rigorous formality, you seem to remove any historic gaze from the reality you refer to, offering to the viewers the chance to perceive in a more atemporal form. In this sense, your works go beyond any dichotomy between Tradition and Contemporariness, establishing a stimulating osmosis between materials from contingent era and an absolute approach to Art: do you recognize any contrast between Tradition and Contemporariness?
In this work I intertwined three a-temporal symbols of Otherness: Nature, Animal and Woman. I wanted to allude to fairy tale and fable, and to make a comment on the
21 06 4
Special Issue