DROP OUT OF ART SCHOOL (2012)
Photo Album
Photo Album
Foreword -
In this age of an Instagram billion dollar buyout, pushing a button digitally transforms an original picture into one of manufactured nostalgia. An artificial time passage is applied by simulating a physical-chemical process relating to a film emulsion that is increasingly in short supply. While the moment captured is not generic, the uniformly applied veneer of a declining technology, and the mood it intends to evoke, is. While the moment is real, the sentiment imposed by the aesthetic may be as bankrupt as Kodak. Within this automation, users themselves can be elevated to the status of artists, or at a minimum, appear artful.
We have yet to comprehend how future generations will view our vernacular snapshots and their attempts to understand will undoubtedly be challenged by a disjointed reality portrayed through the human construct of aged pictures. We may learn that Instagram photos are as true as those imposed sentiments written in a Hallmark card - real feelings though not produced with our own words. But as with any modern day convenience, they are available for a price. The card at Wal-Mart is only 99 cents. The App, however, is free so long as you share your personal information.
'Drop Out of Art School' is an impermanent look at the changing Fairview neighbourhood in Vancouver, Canada. Within the time of a month, I photographed the area while on routine errands with a used and gifted iPhone. Fairview, which is where my family calls home, is also the city’s political seat and is home to City Hall and a flux of new big box stores. As the residents of Fairview, and also Vancouver, face intensifying transformative pressures, the project takes a snapshot of the community as our mayor strives to make this former Olympic host and “Most Livable City” also the Greenest City in the World by 2020.
Just as the neighbourhood has and continues to evolve, though arguably over longer timeframes, this project continued to do so over a targeted timeframe. It aged and some pictures disappeared altogether, like those delaminating from the insides of your parents’ family photo albums. On June 1, the project underwent a lasting transformation and is as appears here.
John Goldsmith
Vancouver, Canada
In this age of an Instagram billion dollar buyout, pushing a button digitally transforms an original picture into one of manufactured nostalgia. An artificial time passage is applied by simulating a physical-chemical process relating to a film emulsion that is increasingly in short supply. While the moment captured is not generic, the uniformly applied veneer of a declining technology, and the mood it intends to evoke, is. While the moment is real, the sentiment imposed by the aesthetic may be as bankrupt as Kodak. Within this automation, users themselves can be elevated to the status of artists, or at a minimum, appear artful.
We have yet to comprehend how future generations will view our vernacular snapshots and their attempts to understand will undoubtedly be challenged by a disjointed reality portrayed through the human construct of aged pictures. We may learn that Instagram photos are as true as those imposed sentiments written in a Hallmark card - real feelings though not produced with our own words. But as with any modern day convenience, they are available for a price. The card at Wal-Mart is only 99 cents. The App, however, is free so long as you share your personal information.
'Drop Out of Art School' is an impermanent look at the changing Fairview neighbourhood in Vancouver, Canada. Within the time of a month, I photographed the area while on routine errands with a used and gifted iPhone. Fairview, which is where my family calls home, is also the city’s political seat and is home to City Hall and a flux of new big box stores. As the residents of Fairview, and also Vancouver, face intensifying transformative pressures, the project takes a snapshot of the community as our mayor strives to make this former Olympic host and “Most Livable City” also the Greenest City in the World by 2020.
Just as the neighbourhood has and continues to evolve, though arguably over longer timeframes, this project continued to do so over a targeted timeframe. It aged and some pictures disappeared altogether, like those delaminating from the insides of your parents’ family photo albums. On June 1, the project underwent a lasting transformation and is as appears here.
John Goldsmith
Vancouver, Canada
The Drop Out of Art School Photo Album is now available for purchase via my website.
