Perspectives: Point of View by Edward Gillum
Captive Isolation by Jesse Merrell
Remnants of the Past by Travis Rockett
Exhibit: September 7 to October 1, 2023
Art Hop Reception: September 7, 2023 – 5PM to 8PM
Our ideas, dreams and memories are our own. They help us weave our version of a reality that may or may not be in agreement with others, even those close to us. When is the last time you just did not see eye to eye with a friend or loved one? Choosing to agree to disagree can bring about peace without necessarily assuming the other’s perspective or point of view.
We are all capable of reconstructing memories of childhood. One memory might include playing a game called ‘telephone’ in which several kids sit in a circle, and one person tells a story or a joke to the person on their left, (or right), and as the story or joke is passed from one to the next person, finally coming full circle back to the first teller of the story or joke, and it is not the same as the original version.
This example of a commonly shared experience among many serves as one illustration of how each participant brings their uniqueness and differences to a given situation, establishing a clear depiction of their own personal thoughts, ideas, opinions, i.e. their perspectives and as such, their overall point
of view.
I work best when I am guided by a self-imposed system and/ or a set of fairly rigid parameters. And as a process for the upcoming show, I chose to give myself the job of reacting to the notion that everyone has a different perspective, so that for this installation, I would need to collect a large quantity
of perspectives. In this case that would involve searching and accumulating many visual images that illustrate a depth of space or perspective. The extreme heat we experienced in late July and early August gave me cause to stay indoors, enjoying the AC, (after the crisis of my AC going down on the
“hottest” day of the year), working on the computer searching for and then processing images. It dawned on me that the accumulation of many images of perspectives could be printed on wallpaper and formed into a cone, open on one end and at the other end – a point (of view). – Edward Gillum
While the Coronavirus continues to spread across the globe, our response to it has eased by many degrees. The COVID lockdown in 2020 certainly has made a lasting impact on our lives, both personally and professionally. Its effect clings to us in our motivation patterns, our work environment, and even our social lifestyles – with some too afraid to be as social as before and minimizing contact with others, and many others seeming to make up for lost social time.
Captive Isolation is a conversation of that difficult time. It is an interpretation and exploration of concepts of “Social Distance,” “Mask Up,” and “Lockdown.” How I chose to express this is with human figure and form, made bare, naked
and exposed.
The human nude is a classical prompt; often used in fine art illustrations and photography. In this series, I am relating this to the exposure to the coronavirus long before we were even made aware it existed and through the initial stages of the pandemic. Our bodies were vulnerable to the virus, and so
naked to the environment we were.
It was important to express a feeling of loneliness in this collection. Isolation does many things to the social mind, and being isolated, alone, and naked is certainly one way to illustrate this. Further, the concept of “masking up”
has become so commonplace now, but at the time was an imposition, a requirement. It can also be interpreted as us being ignorant of the goings on in the world, especially in relation to finding a viable vaccine. But in that sense, our masks can also be blindfolds or shrouds.
Lastly, the exploration uses bondage and kink as a visual metaphor for the lockdown. The loss of freedom; unable to relax and socialize as we would so choose. Instead, and with the understanding of safety, we freely surrendered our mobility to our caretakers and leaders, and let them dictate our decisions.
This is comparable to the relationship that a dominant or master has over their submissive.
The other link to the lockdown that this series connects to is the hyper sexualization experienced by many, which may have been a mix of a need to connect socially, survival instinct, and even boredom. Add this to the mix of frustration, sadness, anger, and in some cases, joy, that the pandemic caused
emotionally and mentally, and we can conclude that our personal experience with the lockdown is deeply personal and individually unique. However, I feel we all can relate to some aspects of the works presented in this series; not only locally, but internationally as well.
We may have been captive, isolated, and alone; but as the human community, we were alone together. – Jesse Merrell
Over the last several years, I have been enamored with historical places. “Remnants of the Past” was born from my explorations of these places and spaces. It has been a collection that I will continuously update, as it really reflects an area I am passionate about: History. This selection of works comes from photographs while traveling to Bodie, CA and Alcatraz. Both places were a joy to explore, and I was amazed to see so much preserved in arrested decay. Between
the external shots, the interiors, and the details, I had so much to discover, and my drive to keep looking for more inspiration from the past was definitely stimulated.
I have always been enamored by the past. I enjoy working with my prints and trying to make them look more vintage or as though they were taken in a bygone era. This show has a combination of Black and White, Color, and Toned images, all of which I hope captures the essence of time and place, all while bringing my subjects into focus.
It is my hope that my photography inspires others to seek out these amazing places, and perhaps see if they can find my exact view! – Travis Rockett
Spectrum Art Gallery’s New Hours of Operation:
Thursdays and Fridays: 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Saturdays and Sundays: 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM