Artist Lectures: SMP Presentations

Alyson Moore – Imprints

Alyson Moore’s work dealt with the idea of connecting strangers who normally pass each other without notice and breaking down social barriers. In one of her artworks, To Someone from Anyone, she had people write anonymous letters to anyone. The anonymity of both sender and receiver broke down social barriers for people who would otherwise be afraid to talk to someone they do not know. She found a common desire in people to associate with strangers.

When she worked with found objects, which was people’s trash, she realized that everyone shares daily activities without realizing that other people go through them also. An example is soda bottle caps. Each person who threw away a bottle cap had participated in buying, opening, drinking the soda and finally throwing away the bottle and cap. By bringing together these shared found objects in a work of art, she creates a new interaction between people. People had touched and interacted with the things they threw away, so when these things interact, it creates interaction between those who touched the objects.

One of my favorites out of her works were the portraits she made of the moment she met people. She went out into daily life and talked to strangers. Her portraits recreate the moment she met each person through image and text. They are expressions of her first impressions of these people. The artwork breaks out of the frame, representing her breaking of social barriers. When I looked at each portrait, it was like being in that moment inside of her head. The large scale of the work and its breaking of the frame surround the viewer in that moment.

Her final work was about places. Everyday we go to communal places and we are unaware of the people who are there before us. Each person’s visit to a communal place overlaps with another, just like the fingerprints we leave on things at these places. She created large images of fingerprints on clear backgrounds and they hung from the ceiling. Each fingerprint can be viewed on its own or as overlapping with multiple other fingerprints, just like the moments. Viewers can move through the space between the fingerprints without restriction on their movements or interactions. The fingerprints themselves create a new space for people to interact.

Courtney Teed – Photography

Courtney Teed photographs conventional objects she finds and makes them look unconventional and interesting. She goes out into the world to find things to photograph that most people would not take a second look at. When she finds something, she shares the physical space with the object to find a unique view. Some of her photographs look abstract because they are taken from unrecognizable angles. Her photographs are taken from viewpoints that most people would never see from. When I look at the photographs, I cannot always recognize what the object is and I will look at the photograph for several minutes to figure it out. ­­If I finally do realize what the object is, I am amazed that I have seen it from such a strange and new angle.

Her photographs are black and white because the world is in color. Black and white makes the image less connected to the real world and enhances its abstractness. The prints are big to give a more direct relationship between the image and the viewer. The photographs do not have titles, but are usually numbered. This leaves out the context of the objects so the viewer can see what they see, not what may actually be there.