10/15/2020
Jackson Sluiter's "Portriats in the dark"
Jackson's interests are in the crituiqe of status and eradication of hierarchy. His work is based in the ideology of Anarcho-syndicalism and a unionization of the working class. A romanticization of industrialized objects in terms of functionality and their material properties of binding, strength and economical practicality. Using text and language in relation to the power and strength of the working class; the people, can achieve in uniform. Developing a theme of objects and imagery relating to anti-establishment, anti-authority and the working class as a means to discuss the internal and external violence created by the strict social structure ‘fire art’ has been governed by.
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For this project I felt very focused on this theme of ‘light’ in relationship to the technical logistics of the camera. Light draws a very strong connection to the effective renderability a camera has in depicting a subject. The camera’s ability to operate as a drawing tool rests on the crutch of light and light in relation to subject. By using the camera in a traditional genre of portraiture to try and convey this connection of the camera to light.
I think the work introduces a level of intimacy. I and in turn, the viewer, become participants in this act of assisted infliction. The viewer becomes part of the work’s participation of delving into decay, building this idea of a comradery of coping mechanisms. A large part of my conceptual momentum for this project came from Charles Bukowski’s remarks on coping mechanisms. “Your job is a coping mechanism, shopping is a coping mechanism, social interaction is a coping mechanism”. Every decision you make is an aid in an attempt to cope with this inescapable void of life as an undefined entity. I think this gesture illustrated in the work, the evidence of human touch in relation to these notions of coping mechanism ties the theme of light as a representation of human interaction. If we are able to build relationships through this ability to cope with life, a bodily presence becomes active in addressing what justifies a fulfilled human experience.
The fact that both bodies being evident in every portrait builds a sense of authorship in the portrayal of each subject. That fact that I am evident furthers the notion of participation in the work rather than an observation. Leaving behind the theme of voyeurism and objectivity the camera is supposed to have, this mechanism to render objective fact. Escaping this absolute and even modernist thought of the camera by being directly in control of this light, directly in control of depiction. - Jackson