The Definition of Beauty, 2007 Manipulated digital photograph Variable dimensions This photograph is a detail from an outside wall at KR Autos, London Road, Sheffield, UK. It is a view of a small portion of a brick wall which had been repainted several times and distressed by weather and time. I used to walk past this wall at least twice a day on my way to work and became fascinated by the number of layers that had been added and how each had eroded and distressed in different ways and at different speeds. I knew it was only a matter of time before it was repainted and lost forever. I began to see it as fundamentally beautiful and embodying multiple features of visual composition. In 2007 I was invited to be part of Host 7: Beauty, a project by the Sheffield-based Host Artists Group (HAG). The project included the work of 16 artists, collated into a book / DVD package. This was included as part of the Sheffield Pavilion representation at The 2007 Venice Biennale, curated by Sheffield Contemporary Art Forum (SCAF). http://www.hostoffice.org.uk/index.html http://artsheffield.org/ SCAF also showed the work at Documenta XII. This is the accompanying text I wrote at the time: Symmetry, asymmetry, repetition, variation, composition, dissolution, synchronization, interference, intention, accident, contrast and complement, Beauty everywhere, always.
The Definition of Beauty, 2007
Mar 23, 2016
Artwork as part of Host 6: Beauty
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The Definition of Beauty, 2007Manipulated digital photographVariable dimensions
This photograph is a detail from an outside wall at KR Autos, London Road, Sheffield, UK. It is a view of a small portion of a brick wall which had been repainted several times and distressed by weather and time.I used to walk past this wall at least twice a day on my way to work and became fascinated by the number of layers that had been added and how each had eroded and distressed in different ways and at different speeds. I knew it was only a matter of time before it was repainted and lost forever. I began to see it as fundamentally beautiful and embodying multiple features of visual composition.
In 2007 I was invited to be part of Host 7: Beauty, a project by the Sheffield-based Host Artists Group (HAG). The project included the work of 16 artists, collated into a book / DVD package.This was included as part of the Sheffield Pavilion representation at The 2007 Venice Biennale, curated by Sheffield Contemporary Art Forum (SCAF).http://www.hostoffice.org.uk/index.htmlhttp://artsheffield.org/SCAF also showed the work at Documenta XII.
This is the accompanying text I wrote at the time:
Symmetry, asymmetry, repetition, variation, composition, dissolution, synchronization, interference, intention, accident, contrast and complement, Beauty everywhere, always.
The original had a white border to prompt association with the slick Athena posters of the 1990s. The 2012 version is differently composed and has text formatted in such a way as to emphasize the reference.
This work recalls observations that, for me, started during the 1980s, of accidental urban compositions and distressed surfaces. At the time, I had no access to good quality cameras but 20 years later, digital photography enabled to capture anything very quickly and easily. Also, universally available computer technology allowed me to edit and format the image in any number of different ways.
There is an interesting contrast between the immediacy of the digitally captured and published image, and the time it took to accumulate its surface. And suddenly, itʼs gone.
Richard Bolam, August 2012http://richardbolamat50.wordpress.com
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