Research point
Read the reviews by Campany and Colberg. Try to pick out the key points made by each writer.
Read the reviews by Campany and Colberg. Try to pick out the key points made by each writer.
David Campany
Thomas Ruff: Aesthetic of the Pixel
Campany argues that Ruff is inviting the viewer to contemplate the aesthetics of the basic condition of the electronic image, the pixel.
Campany states that artists at the vanguard work with found images to "make sense of culture increasingly dominated by spectacle".
Central to Campany's review is the idea of "archive" and the "archival grid". Campany does not clearly explain what he means by the word "archive", he references the standardisation of: cameras; film formats; the physical items that store and display photographs; the attitude of institutions that validate photography and its standing and meaning in society and deems these to all be "archival forms of, and for the photographic image".
The definition of "archive" in Collins dictionary is the collection of documents and records which contain historical information. This definition does not tie in with, what feels like, the amorphous concept Campany has in mind. He states that this archive, collection, ordering, forever holds off "a potential collapse into chaos, because there is always something wild and unpredictable about the behaviour of images." Campany does not explain further this ever present descent into chaos or the exact inherent nature of images that prompts it. Unfortunately this lack of linking means that I, at least, am unable to follow the rationale and argument that is being made.
Putting my inability to grasp Campany's concept to one side, Campany argues that the safety and order that the archive and the archival grid inspires is deemed to be the ideal form of art in the various influential schools of post war art.
Campany notes the display of works of arts in a series, references the ideal of the archival grid, where by the specific common element of the series of photographs is both emphasised, through the repetition in each work and de-emphasised, as its uniqueness is lost, it is shown in repeat.
Campany implies that alongside being in a series, due to deriving from a number of "archives", there is extra value to Ruff's jpegs. Why more archives is more desirable is not explained.
Campany's more interesting, and more understandable, argument relates to the contemplation of the beauty of digital images. The digital image comprises of electronic information. In an art that placed great credence to the "grain" of photographic film, Campany suggests similar beauty should be ascribed to the electronic equivalent, the pixel and believes that Ruff's jpegs is a start in the appreciation of such beauty.
Thomas Ruff: Aesthetic of the Pixel
Campany argues that Ruff is inviting the viewer to contemplate the aesthetics of the basic condition of the electronic image, the pixel.
Campany states that artists at the vanguard work with found images to "make sense of culture increasingly dominated by spectacle".
Central to Campany's review is the idea of "archive" and the "archival grid". Campany does not clearly explain what he means by the word "archive", he references the standardisation of: cameras; film formats; the physical items that store and display photographs; the attitude of institutions that validate photography and its standing and meaning in society and deems these to all be "archival forms of, and for the photographic image".
The definition of "archive" in Collins dictionary is the collection of documents and records which contain historical information. This definition does not tie in with, what feels like, the amorphous concept Campany has in mind. He states that this archive, collection, ordering, forever holds off "a potential collapse into chaos, because there is always something wild and unpredictable about the behaviour of images." Campany does not explain further this ever present descent into chaos or the exact inherent nature of images that prompts it. Unfortunately this lack of linking means that I, at least, am unable to follow the rationale and argument that is being made.
Putting my inability to grasp Campany's concept to one side, Campany argues that the safety and order that the archive and the archival grid inspires is deemed to be the ideal form of art in the various influential schools of post war art.
Campany notes the display of works of arts in a series, references the ideal of the archival grid, where by the specific common element of the series of photographs is both emphasised, through the repetition in each work and de-emphasised, as its uniqueness is lost, it is shown in repeat.
Campany implies that alongside being in a series, due to deriving from a number of "archives", there is extra value to Ruff's jpegs. Why more archives is more desirable is not explained.
Campany's more interesting, and more understandable, argument relates to the contemplation of the beauty of digital images. The digital image comprises of electronic information. In an art that placed great credence to the "grain" of photographic film, Campany suggests similar beauty should be ascribed to the electronic equivalent, the pixel and believes that Ruff's jpegs is a start in the appreciation of such beauty.
Joerg Colberg
Review: jpegs by Thomas Ruff
Colberg suggests that many would strongly argue that jpegs is not photography, although he decides to bypass the detailed nuances of the argument that would entail.
Colberg quotes Ruff explaining the history behind the work " I managed to modify the terribly poorly resolved but still visually aesthetical images my way."
Colberg argues about the best form of presentation for the work, stating his believe that book form may be much better than large prints in a gallery setting.
Whilst appreciating the beauty of the images and the willingness to push the boundaries of photography, Colberg critically argues, is this just technique, what else is there? Colberg is unable to make the subjective theoretical links in respect of this work that Campany is, leaving him to ponder a question that whilst posed by this work and its artist is never, to his mind, satisfactorily answered.
Review: jpegs by Thomas Ruff
Colberg suggests that many would strongly argue that jpegs is not photography, although he decides to bypass the detailed nuances of the argument that would entail.
Colberg quotes Ruff explaining the history behind the work " I managed to modify the terribly poorly resolved but still visually aesthetical images my way."
Colberg argues about the best form of presentation for the work, stating his believe that book form may be much better than large prints in a gallery setting.
Whilst appreciating the beauty of the images and the willingness to push the boundaries of photography, Colberg critically argues, is this just technique, what else is there? Colberg is unable to make the subjective theoretical links in respect of this work that Campany is, leaving him to ponder a question that whilst posed by this work and its artist is never, to his mind, satisfactorily answered.