Below you’ll find videos of the “Reading Room” sessions held between June 6-30, 2014, with brief descriptions of the subjects they cover. (All of these sessions took place at The Petrified Forest Gallery, 291 Windermere Rd. Unit 142 in London, Ontario, Canada.)
•
June 6, 2014, 6-8 p.m: “Reading Room” debut
Opening and discussion with A. D. Coleman. Introduction by Ruth Skinner, moderator. Speaking participants: Hungarian-born Canadian artist Gabriella Solti and Dave Kemp, photo-based Canadian artist and recent PhD graduate from the University of Western Ontario.
Subject(s) covered: Quick summation of my personal and professional history. Issues of writing style: accessibility, jargon, academic style, “artspeak.” Key essays that served as turning points in the evolution of my critical work. The provisional nature of any critical position. Issues in digital imaging: analog vs. digital photography. Working with computers and the web as a writer. The inception of the Capa D-Day inquiry. (Alert: Technical difficulties created feedback that fades in and out of this video’s soundtrack. if you bear with it, you’ll find yourself rewarded, I think.)
•
June 11, 6-8pm: A. D. Coleman and Dave Kemp in conversation
Introduction by Ruth Skinner, moderator. Speaking participants: Dave Kemp, photo-based Canadian artist and recent studio-art PhD graduate from the University of Western Ontario.
Subject(s) covered: Kemp summarizes his background and concerns. Issues in digital imaging, and Kemp’s digital projects, such as the 1-pixel camera. Generational differences in understanding of computer technologies. “Photography” as a problematic category today. The credibility of the digital image as documentation. The homogenizing effect of art education. (Alert: Due to a technical snafu, this has Coleman, Kemp, and Skinner on audio, but only Kemp and Skinner on video.)
•
June 24, 7-9 p.m.: Alternate History: The Fable of Robert Capa’s D-Day Photographs
Introduction by Ruth Skinner, moderator. Speaking participants: artist and MFA graduate Diana Yoo and Hungarian-born Canadian artist Gabriella Solti .
Subject covered: The inquiry into Robert Capa’s actions on Omaha Beach on D-Day, June 6, 1944, and the subsequent fate of his negatives. Posted in installments at my blog, this investigation was then in its early stages. (Note: Participants gathered early at the gallery to watch the live-streamed presentation of a conversation between John Morris, Capa’s picture editor at LIFE magazine’s London office on D-Day, and Robert Pledge, director of Contact Press Images, a present-day picture agency. That event took place at the International Center of Photography in New York. The “Reading Room” discussion began immediately upon the conclusion of that live presentation, and referred to portions of it. Unfortunately, the ICP has not put that dialogue online for subsequent viewing.)
•
June 30, 7-8:30 p.m.: A. D. Coleman and Patrick Mahon in conversation
Exhibition closing and discussion with A. D. Coleman. Introduction by Ruth Skinner, moderator. Speaking participants: artist, curator and teacher Patrick Mahon. Dave Kemp and Gabriella are there also.
Subject(s) covered: Mahon’s background. William Ivins’s theories of communication. Artistic and critical activity as citizenship. Moving outside your comfort zone in your work. Relationship to audience(s); accessibility vs. difficulty in art and critical writing. Celebrity culture and its impact on the arts. Hope vs. optimism.
•
Reading Room, closing event at Petrified Forest Gallery, 6-30-14