PO5 from the Proposition One: Only The Ephemeral series. ©2011 Max de Esteban
The overall photographic practice of Barcelona-based photographer Max Esteban explores socio-political concepts within visual structures of serialization and repetition. His most recent body of photographs, Proposition One: Only The Ephemeral, is opening tonight at Klompching Gallery (NYC).
With this new work, he turns his camera toward recent cutting-edge technology—utilized in the creation and communication of art—that is now considered obsolete. Through a time-consuming and meticulous process, he disassembles apparatus such as film projectors, 35mm film cameras, VHS tape players and record players. Piece-by-piece, the parts are painted white, the machines are then reassembled and photographed at different stages of being re-built. The photographed layers are themselves assembled into a single image, resulting in x-ray-like photographs that are reminiscent of architectural cyanotypes.
These exquisite pigment prints provide the viewer with a rare glimpse into the internal workings of retro technology, that are at once beautiful for their simplicity and ingenuously complex in their design. The precision inherent in the photographs bring to mind the idea of a technological taxidermy that removes nostalgia, yet performs the role of memento mori for machines that have become obsolete and may soon be forgotten.
PO15 from the Proposition One: Only The Ephemeral series. ©2011 Max de Esteban
PO7 from the Proposition One: Only The Ephemeral series. ©2011 Max de Esteban
PO2 from the Proposition One: Only The Ephemeral series. ©2011 Max de Esteban
PO8 from the Proposition One: Only The Ephemeral series. ©2011 Max de Esteban
PO17 from the Proposition One: Only The Ephemeral series. ©2011 Max de Esteban
PO3 from the Proposition One: Only The Ephemeral series. ©2011 Max de Esteban
PO9 from the Proposition One: Only The Ephemeral series. ©2011 Max de Esteban
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