I am not the Artist, I am the Photographer: a series of conceptual photo retakes

The story of conceptual art is often told in terms of the ideas of male artists. In these reenactments, I occupy this narrative as a woman and as a photographer. I am not the Artist, I am the Photographer: a series of conceptual photo retakes approaches the photographic aspect of Conceptual Art as a subject for repetition, remediation and representation. In this work, I ‘remake’ the informing idea, or rather, ‘retake’ the photograph of the idea. This series consists of 10 ‘retakes’ of iconic photographs, shot on medium format film, and recorded on video, in which I reenact the original ‘idea’ as it reappears in the natural flow of my thoughts. These fragmentary reenactments are integrated in the setting and the scripting of the photoshoot. The series concludes with Mi Silueta, by Ana Mendieta who made a silhouette of her body on the ground out of natural materials, she then took a photograph. 

This project was developed as a gallery installation in which spatial and temporal aspects are significant in the experience of the work. A set of 10 framed chromogenic prints are presented along with a large projection of an hour long video set to play on a loop. While this video has its own ambient soundtrack, there is also a second spoken audio channel consisting of independent clips describing each idea. These descriptions play in random order with long intervals between each clip, directing the viewer's attention to one or other photographic print.

(2019)