Berenice Abbott

I first came across Berenice Abbott at the MOMA.  Berenice (originally Bernice) Abbott (1898 - 1991) was born in Springfield Ohio and spent a couple years at Ohio State University studying photography.  She moved to NYC where she became a photo assistant to Man Ray.  She is most known for her black and white photography of New York City during the 1930’s, but the work that captured my attention was her period of documenting science.  She worked with MIT during the years of 1958 - 1960 in capturing various physics phenomena through photography.  Subject matter included bouncing balls and ripple tanks (photosensitive paper was placed below the glass tank to capture the ripples).  While her work with MIT could be considered purely academic - there is a beauty to her style that brings it into the realm of art.

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A Little Advice from George Bellows

Seen at the George Bellows exhibit at Columbus Museum of Art this past weekend.  George Bellows (1882-1925) was an American painter that grew up in Columbus, Ohio and attended Ohio State University.   I found myself considering his work from two perspectives - head on, and precariously close at an angle.  The macro perspective brought a new appreciation for his work, with his considered brushstrokes that form the composite.  

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Stories We Tell

I rented 'Stories We Tell' this past weekend.  It is the work of Canadian director Sarah Polley.  The documentary follows the story of Sarah's parents, and the revelation that Sarah is the product of a extramarital affair.  The film is effective in exploring the idea of memory, and the reality that is constructed through our perspective and proximity to a situation.  The critical acclaim (95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes) created some high expectations for the film, which were not completely met.  But the $4 I donated to iTunes was worth a few memorable quotes:

“When you’re in the middle of a story, it isn’t a story at all. But only a confusion, a dark roaring, a blindness. . . It’s only afterwards that it becomes anything like a story. . . When you’re telling it to yourself - or to someone else. ”

— Michael Polley (Sarah's father)

“There are the parties to an incident - those who are there and are directly affected by it. Then there is a circle around that, of people who are affected tangentially because of their relationship to the principal parties. And then there’s another concentric circle further out there, which basically has heard or been told by one of the principal players. But all of these may have different narratives, and these narratives are shaped in part to the relationship to the person that told it to them and by the events. One does not get the truth simply by hearing what their reactions are. People tend to declare themselves in terms of what they saw, in terms of what they felt, in terms of what they remembered, and in terms of their loyalties. The same set of circumstances will effect different people in different ways. Not that there are different truths. There are different reactions to particular events. The crucial function of art is to tell the truth, to find the truth in the situation. That’s what it’s about.”

— Harry Gulkin (Sarah's biological father, giving his reaction to Sarah allowing others equal weight in telling of the story).

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