Twins

Here I have posted some of my favorite photographs of twins. It is almost a given that when I see images of twins I love them.


Louis Faurer, Twin Sisters, New York, 1948

I think I am particularly fascinated by twins for two reasons:

One.) My mother is one of a pair of fraternal twins. Mom is Carol. My aunt is Cheryl. Cute names were a trend in post WWII baby booming America.

Here they are at age 12

From what I have gathered about being a twin is that the part that seems to be problematic is that one's particular identity is sometimes uncomfortably overshadowed by the phenomenon of the pair.

Another thing about my mother's being a twin...there is a possibility of myself bearing twins in the future.

Two.) My astrological sign is Gemini.



The astrological sign of gemini gets its name from Greek and Roman mythology. Kastor and Polydeuces (Castor and Pollux) are twin sons of Leda. Leda was their mother, who had been seduced by Zeus while he was in the form of a swan. Zeus then became the children's "divine" father, while the twins went on to live with a "foster," mortal, father, Tyndareus.
The interesting part about the detail of the fathers is that in the stories about the twins, they are inconsistently referred to as divine and/or mortal.

Therefore, twins are often cast as the symbolic representation of duality.


Diane Arbus, Identical Twins


Disfarmer, Untitled, Heber Springs Arkansas, circa 1940s


Since ancient times in religions and philosophies all over the world, dualisms in life have been major sources of inquiry, thought, and debate.

Common dualities include :
Mortal / Divine
Sacred / Secular
Physical / Mental
Emotional / Logical
Reason / Passion
Nature / Nurture
Body / Soul

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Where is the line between the body and the mind?

Where the body is a collection of organic and physical elements, chemicals and sensory systems, the mind is one's internalization of environment and circumstances into consciousness, awareness, and creation.


Joaquin Trujillo, from the series, Los Ninos

How do two individuals, borne from the same substance, live in, react to, and understand the world differently?

Mapping

cartography - mapmaking -combines science, aesthetic and technical ability to create a balanced and readable representation, capable of communicating information effectively.

I am very interested in maps. I love them.
I understand them and I make them.
I especially like how maps can be very organic, sometimes resembling root systems of plants or the veins of a human body.

Maps are also an expression of a particular point of view. In this case maps can be works of art as they are just another avenue of interpreting the world. In an episode called Mapping of This American Life, Ira Glass says, "Every map is the world seen through the filter of a different lense." Like a photograph the composition of a map may be documentary, scientific, aesthetic or poetic. They can also be altered to tell a story or express an opinion.

I have in the past year been working on a nine foot timeline/map of history of which I will divulge no more details at this time.

Until then, here are some artists I have found that are making maps:


Paula Scher

Manhattan


Manhattan (detail)


Tsunami

See more at Maya Stendhal Gallery


Nina Katchadourian

World Map, 1989


Coastal Merger, 1993

Look very closely.
Nina Kathchadouorian reassembles paper maps to create new and witty constructions.
Also see more here: Geographical Pathologies

View officialthisameric anlife's map

Taken in (See more photos here


Dennis Wood
is a cartographer that I heard on This American Life's recent show called Mapping(listen free).
He did a project where he extensively mapped his neighborhood of Boylan Heights in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Boylan Power is a map of the neighborhood’s phone, cable, and power lines.

Photographs of Jeff Charbonneau & Eliza French

I am happy to announce that my friends Jeff Charbonneau and Eliza French have received a fine review by Peter Frank in the current issue of Photograph Magazine (click images below to enlarge):


View their wesite
Artwork can be seen at Robert Berman Gallery, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica

Neil Farber

Upon first introduction to the artwork of Neil Farber, one may immediately notice a sense of fun brought on by the cartoon-like drawings and bright colors. When inspected more closely, however, the viewer will find that the compositions often evoke a feeling of sickness or impending doom. Farber's work often employs horror vacui (the often disturbing method of meticulously filling empty spaces), which adds to the darkness and disorientation. In one piece, a sea of people is literally a sea.


Untitled, 2005

In Neil Farber's artwork, one will most often find the repeated motif of a black haired male figure. These repeated figures seem to represent the human condition as an anonymous experience with the goods and bads of life sparing no one.

I am reminded of an image that was on the wall of my childhood home for years and years. It is an image of an acrylic painting by Mark Sabin.

Mark Sabin
Rush Hour, 1979

Though Sabin's piece focuses more definitively upon business men crowded into the streets of New York City, the feeling is similar. The viewer is situated in the midst of an anonymous crowd. Though surrounded by people, one feels isolated and alone.

The repeated male figure is sometimes a Dracula (see below). This is at once hilarious while simultaneously creepy. These denote a somewhat sinister view; that perhaps of a capitalist society where the business-suited individuals are frowning, bloodsucking monsters, only out for their own gain.

Untitled, 2005

The multiplicity of the black-haired male in so many of Farber's compositions may be a reference to our modern, technological age. An age in which there is an explosion of population and where distances between peoples are rapidly shortening. People are crowding into cities and becoming reliant on technology, but somehow there is a vast sense among individuals of isolation and depression. Be it to technology, expansion, exploitation, or trade, there is a shrinking of differentiation between peoples and cultures around the world, which seems as though it can only lead to very nefarious ends.



Untitled, 2005
All images copyright the artist.

Don't Miss It: Neil Farber

New Works

at Richard Heller Gallery

January 5, 2008 - February, 2 2008

Opening Reception: 5 - 7 pm

The Strange and Beautiful World of Amy Cutler

Saddlebacked, 2002

I would like to write today to bring some attention to the artist Amy Cutler. I first came across her when I found Lisa D. Freiman's book (Hatje Cantz, 2006) and immediately I was fascinated. Something about her artwork is so alluring. It must be the combination of the artist's brilliant attention to detail and the peculiar and confounding predicaments the characters find themselves in.
Her characters, all female, are confronted with situations in which they are physically bound to any number of scenarios. Any daily task, whether it be ironing, tending to chickens, or having a dinner party, becomes confounded by the fact that for those involved, one becomes a physical part of any action. The line is blurred about whether the woman or the task at hand is in control. Campers are wearing skirts that are the tents; A face is a potential birdhouse for dozens of birds; Fist fighting schoolgirls are entwined by their hair, as if they are conjoined twins from their braids' growth into one another.

detail from Two Girls and a Potbelly Stove, 2000

Cutler's precisely drawn lines and bright colors aid in illustrating a sense of whimsy. This is heightened by the fine attention to fashion, focusing on traditional and earlier styles of dress.
Whimsey contrasts with an eerie surrealism as one clearly sees the futility or ridiculousness of a given predicament.
The characters' impossible situations are almost real enough to feel and one can momentarily share in sensations of anger, frustration, or melancholy. Meanwhile, the details and colors are delightful and the compositions leave you entranced.

Sweepers, 2001

See more HERE.

First Time

Greetings. This is my very first blog. Welcome.