Stranger Than Fiction
OCA will hold a study visit to the Science Museum on the 26 September to view Stranger Than Fiction.
It is a major exhibition of Joan Fontcuberta’s conceptual photography and gives students the opportunity to see a wide range of his work.
Fontcuberta challenges the assumption that photography and other sources of evidence constitute Truth. He is a creator of hoaxes and carefully constructed fictions that utilize the visual signs and techniques of photographic genres and eras like 19th century natural history and botanical specimen photography to convince his viewers of the verity of his creations.
Like Salvador Dali and Maurizio Cattellan, Foctcuberta displays a surreal sense of humour that reminds us of Sigmund Freud’s studies of dreams and the distorted, composite images of the unconscious mind.
“…[Dreams] combine features of the one object with those of the other in a new image, while it makes skilful use of any really existing resemblances between the two objects. The new creation may prove to be wholly absurd, or even successful as a fantasy, according as the material and the wit employed in constructing it may permit.” p.207, S. Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams, 1900 (Wordsworth Editions, 1997)
And it is exactly this conflation of objects at work here, but not merely for their own visual effect or their possible symbolic meanings, but rather because they elicit our questioning about the possibility of these realities.
This exhibition would interest students working in staged photography, Surealism, photo-manipulation and thinking about photography as evidence and artifice.
See more of Fontcuberta’s work here
To book your place email [email protected]
View my work here; www.robertenoch.com
Image Credits: Joan Fontcuberta
I would highly recommend this, I went to see it a few weeks ago and it is a fascinating and inventive exploration of the veracity of photography.
Hi, is this on 26 Sept or 26 Oct? Is says Sept on this page but Oct on the email I received.
Cheers
Chris
It’s the 26 September,
Joanne
Sounds good what time on the 26th ?
Time is not yet set, we’ll let you know.
It is usually about 11 a.m.
It is set for later, after lunch; 13.45 p.m. for 14.00 entry
Look Forward to this event … I find Fontcuberta’s work hilarious … for anyone who is interested, Stephen Shore is in conversation in the evening with Gerry Badger at The Barbican
http://www.barbican.org.uk/artgallery/event-detail.asp?ID=16878
Going to both, Amano and seeing the exhibition on Architecture – should be an interesting day
See you then Richard …