Tracy Lindner Gander in collaboration with Katherine Bull at João Ferreira Gallery
by Paul Edmunds
One tends to accept the authority of photographs, or at least accept that their authority is an issue. One also tends to accept the
authorship of the photographer. Perhaps it is for these reasons that I found difficulty in accepting that the works on 'Flounce' are a collaboration between the photographer (Gander) and the model (Bull). It's not that I don't believe they collaborated, just that one is so used to the former manipulating the latter. Bull is the model throughout, although through the settings, costume and dramas she displays a remarkable array of different faces and Gander is only ever behind the lens. The blurb which accompanies the exhibition (which I also assumed to have been authored by Gander) describes how the use of a single model with numerous other variations examinations the very notion of photography. I would certainly agree but would add that, as the blurb says, in order to appreciate this you have to understand that the surface (the photographs) are contrived and used to explore what lies beneath (photography in this case). The photographs blur the line between fashion, portraiture and documentation. Bull, a printmaker by training, has produced two works using the photographs taken by Gander as the raw material for a video piece and to assemble a long strip, of 1075 frames, of small prints wound film-like onto a reel.
The camera captures Bull in a variety of settings, most of which are vaguely familiar to me as a Capetonian - the Sea Point promenade, Liesbeek Parkway and the harbour amongst others. Each is presented on a large format as a series of two images, one with the figure of Bull, the other of the setting which forms the background to the former. Sometimes the second is taken from a different angle, sometimes at a different time. The pictures are all taken in even overcast light or at dusk or dawn, apart from one half of Jetty 2, Victoria Basin, CT Harbour, 2002, in which the model is pictured against the harbour in complete darkness. Looking self-contained if not a little out of control, she wears a Chinese dress and holds, almost obscured by the dark, an Okapi knife. This is perhaps the most literal and narrative of the images. In the adjoining print taken a little earlier, she is replaced by solid yellow bollards against the most beautifully toned sea and buildings. One realises how quickly you default to a cinematic translation of the image before you - the cold, deserted docks and some kind of protagonist with a weapon can only mean one thing. The device of the receding bollards is one which I found in all of the pictures. A series of fenceposts, a railing or perhaps even a collection of trees all suggest the procession of time into which a narrative is inserted. In other works though, the apparent plot is not so evident. There are never any other humans in the scenes and most appear abandoned or neglected.
Sometimes Bull is carefully composed, at home in the images, in others she is like washed up flotsam. The character and setting, especially when it is familiar to the viewer, produce a kind of slippage. What, in Joostenberg Vlakte, 2002, is a lycra-clad and helmet-bearing young woman doing in front of a tastefully rusting collection of old motor cars? Why is there a small dog in a jersey nosing around? Why is the bride, in gloves, veil and dress, in Observatory, 2002, without her top? It is as if she has woken in a dream. In the other Observatory, 2002, the soft lines and fabrics of the same bride's outfit contrast harshly with the grafitti-riddled entrance to the subway. The camera seems to pry into a moment of private vulnerability.
In the previously mentioned 1075 inches of me and the video piece 1075 frames of me, Bull is listed as the producer in collaboration with Gander. Here we see shots that were not chosen from each of the photographic sessions. In the video piece, one frame, shown in the centre of the monitor, remains for only a split second before it is replaced with another. This produces a kind of jarring stop-motion animation and we begin to get a sense of the collaborative nature of the project. Bull seems confident, active and in control in front of the lens. We see also how Gander has chosen her frames, seeking out discomfort, awkwardness and character in order to probe the nature of the relationship between photographer, subject and viewer.
'Flounce' can mean a kind of trimming sewn onto the bottom of a dress. It can also mean to plunge or throw the body about. Between these two - decorating and manipulating - lies the nature of this project. Decorating the surface, augmenting a model with costumes and accessories in a variety of guises and settings, raising countless questions about what lies beneath. Manipulating the authority of the photograph serves to question the very basis on which this project is founded.
Opening: Wednesday August 7, 6pm
Closing: August 31
João Ferreira Gallery, 80 Hout Street, Cape Town
Tel: 021 423 5403 or 082 490 2977
Fax: 021 423 2136
Email: info@artjoao.co.za
Website: www.artjoao.co.za
Hours: Tue - Fri 10am - 6pm, Sat 10am - 2pm
