Hauntings

Via Webster's

Hauntings: to visit habitually or appear to frequently as a spirit or ghost: to haunt a house; to haunt a person, to recur persistently to the consciousness of; remain with: for example: Memories of love haunted him. to visit frequently; go to often: for example: He haunted the galleries and bars that the artists went to. to disturb or distress; cause to have anxiety; trouble; worry: for example: His youthful escapades came back to haunt him. to reappear continually as a spirit or ghost. to visit habitually or regularly. to remain persistently; loiter; stay; linger. 

Origin: 1200- 50; Middle English haunten  < Old French hanter  to frequent,probably < Old Norse heimta  to lead home, derivative of heim homewards; see home.

Spectral Evidence

Part of the research I am doing in regards to my recent photographic work has been reading up on apparitional experience, ghosts, hauntings and the like. Apparitional experience is, to quote Wikipedia, "an anomalous, quasi-perceptual experience. It is characterized by the apparent perception of either a living being or an inanimate object without there being any material stimulus for such a perception." It is the term that the academic and scientist community sometimes use to describe ghosts or hauntings. 

I'm trying to wrap my head around this concept and to understand what actually prompts the "quasi-perceptual experience."  Where does this sensation or feeling about place or a space that it is inhabited by unexplained entities; things that are not of this world, come from?

I have a strong sense of what the generative force is and I have been jotting down summaries and notes from my reading materials so at some point can pull it all together in some cohesive manner.

These are some of my notes from one of the first texts I read, appropriately entitled: Spectral Evidence. 

In his book, Spectral Evidence: The Photography of Trauma, Ulrich Baer explores the relationship between the experience of trauma and the photographic image. Baer draws a connection between those moments captured mechanically in photographs and those experienced by the individual through trauma. He uses the Holocaust as a specific example of how extremely difficult and limited it is to represent such monumental trauma. Baer suggests that the photographs become more of a tool of witnessing than that of “viewing”. What resonates for me is Baer’s connection to Roland Barthes, which implies for the viewer there is a response that is prompted by the ghostly afterlife of every photograph's subject.

L Reynolds copyright 2012

Chapter 2- 

To give memory place

“The aura of the photographed landscape, the impression of proximity, familiarity and relevance in a possibility quite distant scene seems to trip into memory we did not know existed, a counterpart in ourselves we may have felt but did not know.” (79)

“Conceptually and visually, we are subjected to something we recognize as crucially important, though in the end it eludes us.” (79)

L Reynolds copyright 2011

“The tradition of landscape art likewise…imbuing a scene with auratic significance…without… linking this sense of familiarity to any remembered past “ (79)

“framed emptiness” (81)

“Second generations inherit from their predecessors not something that has been learned but something that remains a loss.” (84)

“The medium of photography always raises the question of the relationship between seeing and knowing.” (87)

Quoting Walter Benjamin: “optical unconscious”

From Conclusion:

“…some events attain full meaning only in retrospect or to use the Freudian term, nachtraglich, or belatedly, and how this belated registration may facilitate or block remembering or forgetting.” (181)

“Every photograph is addressed to a beyond that remains undefined.” (181)

L Reynolds copyright 2011

Ghost Stories

Well, to say this summer has been a whirlwind is an understatement. I can't believe it's August already. Where has the time gone? I know a lot of my time has been invested with work, family and school. Just about a week ago, I was taking down a semester's worth a work at Vermont College of Fine Arts exhibit space, lovingly called "the ARK." I was really pleased with the feedback the faculty and the visiting "critters" had to give. So now, with one whole semester behind me, I can move into semester #2 of a 4 semester journey through graduate school.

copyright LReynolds 2012

copyright LReynolds 2012

This semester I will be focusing all of time and energy into researching ghosts and hauntings. Text and articles to read have been piling up on my desk. Movies to watch are queuing up. The purpose of this research is to better understand what it means for something to be "haunted." What makes a ghost, a ghost? How is it that some people see then and some people don't? Why do spaces and places, like old houses, cemeteries and abandoned buildings fill some people with dread and horror, when other people go hunting for spirits and spectral evidence?  These are just a few examples of the ideas that I am exploring. 

copyright LReynolds 2012

One of my projects will be to document abandoned spaces and those places considered ghostly or haunted through photography and video. Last weekend I went out looking at some old sites and I thought you might be interested in see what I uncovered... 

I will share more as they come.

copyright LReynolds 2012

copyright LReynolds 2012

copyright LReynolds 2012

copyright LReynolds 2012

copyright LReynolds 2012

Thank you so much for visiting my blog. Please remember that I retain the rights to all original photography posted. While I am honored and flattered that you might enjoy the work enough to want to use or repost other places, please do not do so with out express permission from the artist. 

Thanks! Lorraine

Mind Wide Open

Somehow, amazingly readers, I have completed my 1st semester of graduate school. Can you believe it? I sure can't. Someone should pinch me. Hard. There were times during the semester when I really questioned my judgement about the whole ordeal. I mean, seriously folks, this pursuit of knowledge has taken up a good portion of my free time. Ok, Ok, it has taken up all my free time. I mean, really, I haven't even had time for you dear readers. I will have to make a greater effort next semester about writing more. Poke and prod me. OK? Maybe, you can even convince me to share with you my deep intellectual (*cough. cough*) thoughts about art.

(untitled) L Reynolds copyright 2012

And as much as I am completely exhausted and so excited about having the next 2 weeks off from schoolwork, (Crazy right? 2 weeks, too bad it isn't the rest of the summer) I know there are so many things that I need to catch you up on.

So I will be investing some extra time to share with you some exciting things coming down the path.  And maybe we can talk a little, just a smidge,  about some of the more interesting things I learned in graduate school this semester. I promise I won't bore you with a recap on Jameson's theory of Postmodernism in the Late Capitalist Society. But we might talk a about somethings that connected deeply to my work, like objects, collections and souvenirs, nostalgia, Joseph Cornell and the punctum. We can open it up for discussion.

What I will say straight out is that going back to school has really changed the way I look at the world, as an artist, as a parent and wife, as a garment industry professional and as an educator.

It is really important to get out there and stretch your mind. As often as possible. If you can't go back to college, take a class. Art classes are EVERYWHERE. At your local high school as part of adult learning programs, at Craft/Art centers, at Community Colleges and near-by Universities. Get out there and start making. Make something you have NEVER tried before. I did. It helps to rewire your brain...

1. If you have the chance go someplace different and new, visit a city you've never been to, go to galleries and museums or attend an art retreat. Some retreats allow you to sign up for as many or as few classes as you want. I know ART IS YOU.... does.  I am teaching three classes there again in OCTOBER and I can't say enough about how happy and recharged people became after attending workshops in that sort of setting. The bonding and sisterhood that happens is amazing and renewing. I bet you if you went over to their website and checked out the course offerings you would find something that really speaks to you.

I fill you in more about the classes I am teaching in the upcoming weeks.

For now I am going to leave you with a link to my PINTEREST board with some of the inspiration I collected over the past 6 months. Mostly these are artists or works of art that really had a profound influence on my thinking since January.  Enjoy the eye candy, and seriously do think about cracking open that brain of yours by getting out of the studio and into a class room, even if it is for just a four hour work shop. It's totally worth it....

Cheers!

sometimes what you are LOOKING at isn't what you are really SEEING

Sorry to say, I have been very neglectful of my blog as of late. I'll use the old excuse, I've can't seem to find the time. That would be the truth. You see, I've been busy in working on art these days. 26 hours a week, to be exact. (that's on top of the 40-50 hours a week I spend at the office.) Yes, I AM counting. The reason for this? I started graduate school last month and I am required to devote at least 20 hours a week to my studio practice. So, that's what I have been doing, besides trying to  figuring out how to balance it all: I've making art. If I haven't been making art, I've been reading about it, thinking about it and preparing to create it. Now, I'm writing about it! 

Why grad school you ask? I don't know.... I'm crazy... I guess, a glutton for punishment. I like school . (I know, I'm a dork.)  I completed my bachelor's almost 15 years ago. The MFA, has been taunting me, hanging out in the shadows for years, but the timing never felt right. Then, somehow, last year, good friend and mentor of mine, put the bug back in my ear. She told me about this lo-residency program at Vermont College of Fine Arts. I went and checked it out. I was totally sold. I decided that there was no time better than the present. I needed to dive in fast, before I got cold feet. I already had a strong studio practice. I told myself I that I was almost doing all the work already, so why not get credit for it. (Hmmm... not sure if that was an accurate assessment, but whatever.)  Now, I have found myself on this wild ride. Working with an artist teacher and developing study plans, reading essays and criticism about modern (and post modern art) and try lots of new ideas in the studio. 

So, readers, I ask your gentle patience. If you don't see a post every Sunday, as I was apt to do in the past, prod me, poke me, cajole me. I haven't gone too far away. I'm probably, just up to my elbows in gesso or glue and need to sharp reminder that I need to blog , to reconnect with the rest of the world. Let me know you need a little glimmering prize fix and I will share with you what's on the worktable or what books I have been reading. We can get through the next 2 years together. Learning more about who we are as artists and what we can offer the world!

How does that sound? Deal? 

Ok, here's the first installment. I have been working on ideas of containment. So continuing the the Rural Roots series, two new FINISHED pieces to share: The Little Things and Limits of the Visible.

Limits of visible (6"x3")

limits of visible (detail)

limits of visible (detail)

limits of visible (detail)

Little Things (19"x7")

Little Things (detail)

Little Things (detail)

Little Things (details)

And I will leave you with this thought about art (but you can apply it to almost everything in life)

Sometimes what you are LOOKING AT isn't what you are really SEEING.