On March 31, at the closing reception, work that was not sold was painted white (covered with gesso).

Before coating, guests placed pieces of white tape (sold for $1 a strip) on the photographs exhibited.

After coating, the tape was removed to expose strips it was covering
on the original layer.

this is how it worked

Coated prints will be used in the future as a "canvas" for new work.

The exhibition took place at The Pink Pony on the lower east side, New York City, between March 10th and March 31st 2003.

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images from the show
The exhibition featured a series of prints, mostly portraits, created until 1999.

Using a slow shutter speed on the camera, I let my subject blur, rendering the kind of movement one makes in a quarter, half or a whole second. In most cases, the portrayed cannot be aware of motion taking place in such a short expanse time. This “micro body language” is as individual as a fingerprint: In half a second of exposure each person produces a different shape on film. The film also records my movement while taking the picture. The result depicts an encounter between the subject and the photographer.

Working with available light only, without color correction, produces a unique palate. These colors combined with the blurry nature of the image, create pictures that are closer in look to a painting than to a photograph.
images from the show
Stairs respond to the amount of people climbing, their weight and how they carry that weight. A tabletop, a doorknob or a t-shirt all record the manner and frequency of their use. Objects in the physical world are in a constant process of change. Actions taken to defy this process, such as additional coats of paint or cleaning, contribute to the continuous transformation of an object.

It could be defined as wear and tear. I see it as evidence of life. A gray circle on a ceiling can tell a story of a child bouncing a ball. The seams of a vase glued together deepen its beauty because it contains reality, besides water and flowers.

Pursuing this aesthetics of constant change is paradoxical in a format professionally referred to as stills, in a medium often described as stopping time. Art, in general, is separated from the physical world. It comes with a Do Not Touch sign chained to its neck; at its best it is considered eternal and above time. An image on a flat paper is not a useful object.

One way I approached this challenge was printing a self-portrait on a flyer cut to strips at the bottom. I hung ten of these flyers in different locations in Manhattan, next to “Room Available” and “Man with Van” ads. Instead of tearing a piece of paper with a phone number, an individual could tear a vertical strip from the bottom of the image (in this case a part of my chest).

Another project involved printing on an image on popcorn bags. For a weekend popcorn was served in those bags at the Harris theater in Pittsburgh.

EXP MAR 31 incorporates reality into photography in the more traditional setting of an exhibition. Images come with an expiration date and are made perishable. The Do Not Touch sign gives way to an invitation to place masking tape on the exhibits. Photographic prints become a useful object – a new canvas for new work.

 

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