Courtesy of The Proposition Gallery
Groovin' after Pollock
"The Depthography Group" brings art and performance to life in deeply grooved photo works.
By DAVID HATCHETT
Offoffoff.com
'Depthography' is the brainchild of Robert Munn and Sara Cook. 'Otto' is a friend sitting on the steps of an apartment building. His perfectly detailed image appears to hover simultaneously in front and behind the flat surface of this photograph. In "Otto," a lenticular photograph, the artists combine aspects of film and still photography to create this illusion. Animated by the movement of the viewer, Otto appears to take his hat off in a greeting gesture.
THE DEPTHOGRAPHY GROUP
Exhibition: The Depthography Group.
Works by: Sara Cook, Robert Munn, Jackie Chang, Dr. Revolt.
SCHEDULE
November 6 - December 11, 2005
Gallery: The Proposition
559 West 22nd Street
New York NY
Hours: Tues-Sat 10am-6pm
Phone: (212) 242-0035
Natural vision is much flatter,
relying on the two point perspective of the eyes to define space.
The 3-Dimensions in the Depthography photos are created with sandwiched
planes, each refracting pieces of information. Seen together through
finely grooved (lenticular) surfaces, a carefully delineated three-dimensions
emerge.
In "Coney Cad" a Cadillac appears to hover in the air
in front of the Wonder Wheel. Roller coaster cars filled with
riders drop down a steep track in "Cyclone." Munn is
the photographer. He moves the camera around the image in a rapid
series of shots that record the scene from slightly varied angles.
Cook manipulates the shots in Photoshop, assembling the lenticular
effects. In one work, using a split-scan technique, Sara Cook
does an erotic belly dance in front of a light box in a darkened
room. The stark, pink-and-black Warholesque image is animated
by the viewer's movement.
Courtesy of The Proposition GalleryThe two sometimes
work in collaboration with other artists. Included in "The
Depthography Group" are Jackie Chang and Dr. Revolt. Both
see their art primarily in a street context, but Chang shows three
pieces, each with the word EMPIRE printed across the bottom. In
a satirical comment, flip imaging turns the Roman Coliseum into
an overhead view of a sprawling suburb. The graffiti artist Dr.
Revolt tags subway trains, but in the lenticular photo "Train,"
his graffiti tag floats away from the side of the train and hovers
in front of the surface.
These works speak directly to post-Pollock painting. Jackson Pollock
dropped continuous fields of paint across the entire canvas, creating
a wall of paint that is emphatically flat, pushing the surface
forward while simultaneously defining a shallow optical space
between interlocking planes of paint and the canvas. In the lenticular
photo, flat planes stack in a front to back interlocking perspective
that exaggerates a deep space between the surface and back of
the image. The refracting flat planes and the movement of the
viewer together create an interactive art form like no other.
DECEMBER 3, 2005
OFFOFFOFF.COM · THE GUIDE TO ALTERNATIVE NEW YORK
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reader comments on The Depthography Group:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
· About your site, and Bob Munn... from
Otto Franz Krone, Dec. 12, 2005
Post a comment on "The Depthography Group"