Post by pokymoll on Feb 18, 2013 10:13:15 GMT -8
Hey, I want to suggest to have a look at this very young artist.
He is having a solo show at Tomorrow gallery in Toronto.
A short text I received from the gallery.
Mike's photographs examine social network structures and how image-making tools and strategies are co-opted for personal branding purposes. Featuring models clad in 'trendy' apparel, shot in a professional photo-shoot environment, the images are oriented toward a staged 'behind-the-scenes' scenario than editorial. The square format and the subtle blur at the edges of the composition allude to Instagram- a popular photo-sharing app on mobile network devices.
The professional photo-shoot was a platform to investigate contemporary identity formation in social network structures. The processes involved in commercial and personal branding efforts are so similar, yet inverted: brands use us to produce a representation of their brand, and we utilizebrands to produce an image of ourselves. Mike considers these relationships as tenuous and fluid, influenced by choices in lifestyle and driven by trend. The professional nature of the photo-studio, with it’s cast, crew and equipment is undermined - the point of view is distinctly peripheral, always shot from behind, and edited in post to resemble candid throwaway images. The relationship between multi-million dollar advertising campaigns and candid digital snapshots is brought to the forefront, and their hierarchy put into question.
The sculptural objects in Premier Life are created from mass produced furniture and design techniques, pointing the work toward domestic space and intimate habits of collection and display, while also representing the sleek, modernist sensibilities of the corporate world. Personalized with a short pair of sentences, the text reads, “he was on his phone the whole time and the photographer was getting angry. But when he stepped on set he had that cool demeanor, the kind that’s magnetizing.”
Inscribed using laser etching, the text, as well as the text on the table, serves to build a narrative around the models described in the photographs, while also operating on its own. This has been the overarching methodology of the body of work- producing small, discreet elements that come together to form one complex hyper-narrative.
He is having a solo show at Tomorrow gallery in Toronto.
A short text I received from the gallery.
Mike's photographs examine social network structures and how image-making tools and strategies are co-opted for personal branding purposes. Featuring models clad in 'trendy' apparel, shot in a professional photo-shoot environment, the images are oriented toward a staged 'behind-the-scenes' scenario than editorial. The square format and the subtle blur at the edges of the composition allude to Instagram- a popular photo-sharing app on mobile network devices.
The professional photo-shoot was a platform to investigate contemporary identity formation in social network structures. The processes involved in commercial and personal branding efforts are so similar, yet inverted: brands use us to produce a representation of their brand, and we utilizebrands to produce an image of ourselves. Mike considers these relationships as tenuous and fluid, influenced by choices in lifestyle and driven by trend. The professional nature of the photo-studio, with it’s cast, crew and equipment is undermined - the point of view is distinctly peripheral, always shot from behind, and edited in post to resemble candid throwaway images. The relationship between multi-million dollar advertising campaigns and candid digital snapshots is brought to the forefront, and their hierarchy put into question.
The sculptural objects in Premier Life are created from mass produced furniture and design techniques, pointing the work toward domestic space and intimate habits of collection and display, while also representing the sleek, modernist sensibilities of the corporate world. Personalized with a short pair of sentences, the text reads, “he was on his phone the whole time and the photographer was getting angry. But when he stepped on set he had that cool demeanor, the kind that’s magnetizing.”
Inscribed using laser etching, the text, as well as the text on the table, serves to build a narrative around the models described in the photographs, while also operating on its own. This has been the overarching methodology of the body of work- producing small, discreet elements that come together to form one complex hyper-narrative.