In doing research for my current work in progress I found this exhibition taking place at the
Hirschhorn Museum in Washington DC, titled WHAT ABSENCE IS MADE OF..
In reading about the exhibit, I was intrigued to find that a few artists who I have been looking at are actually exhibiting, namely Hiroshi Sugimoto, and John Baldessari. There are quite a few others as well, all dealing with the subject of Absence. The curator, Gianni Jetzer, had this to state on the exhibition:
“Absence is far more than nothing,” said Jetzer. “In an era of increasing consumerism, [absence] has become a compelling way for contemporary artists to surpass the limits of the material world, the latest in the long tradition of expressing transcendental ideas through art.” With this exhibition, “We’re able to investigate the ways artists make visible the invisible, bringing to light common threads not previously explored.”
His statements reinforce my own thoughts on the matter and what I am trying to explore with this project. However, in reading the synopsis of the exhibition and looking at a few of the photos, I seem to be at a cross road with what my ultimate outcome is. I want to explore the idea of absence, yet to photograph something, anything, is to photograph something. It becomes a paradox. Perhaps that is telling, maybe there is no such thing as absence, and what we perceive as absence is merely a lack of understanding. Then again, a lack of something is an absence.
The paradox continues.