Fieldnotes for Useful Light: tamara suarez porras
06.16.18 - 07.15.18 Cover Image: tamara suarez porras. emergence (from within the archive of longing), 2018. Archival Pigment Print.
Fieldnotes for Useful Light: tamara suarez porras
Embark Gallery is pleased to present the work of tamara suarez porras as our second annual rendition of R&D Projects, a series of research-intensive postgraduate fellowships and summer solo exhibitions. This exhibition is a poetic photographic exploration of the Prelinger Library, an independent research library in San Francisco featuring image-rich historical ephemera from the 19th and 20th centuries. What began as an investigation into photometry (the science of the measurement of light, in terms of its perceived brightness to the human eye) evolves towards something less tangible - a meditation on light as a signifier for time and space. In porras’ work, the light in the Prelinger Library becomes a metaphor for discovery. Like the revelations of research, the secret shadows of the Library unfolded sporadically, organically, and with serendipity, and became for the artist as fruitful for artistic consideration as the texts themselves. Porras’ photographs are an archive of the ephemeral. The collection presents alternative ways in which to understand concrete truths, quantifying the affective qualities of light through captured moments, while reveling in their transitory nature. The works by porras are accompanied by an ambient 2-channel sound installation by Portland artist Sei Harris, which considers the ways in which subtle shifts in sound, like light, can transform perception. Angelica Jardini | Curatorial Director
a manner of mark-making, 2018. Archival Pigment Print.
an objective measure of useful light, 2018. Archival Pigment Print.
logL(VS)=radiant energy, 2018. Archival Pigment Print.
the luminousness of the thing in itself, 2018. Archival Pigment Print.
a manner of note-taking, 2018. Archival Pigment Print.
the action of light on certain substances, 2018. Archival Pigment Print.
vertical quality of the flood of light, 2018. Archival Pigment Print.
a light without shadow, 2018. Archival Pigment Print.
lumière, 2018. Archival Pigment Print.
considering true indices for affective perception, 2018. Archival Pigment Print.
an archival impulse, 2018. Archival Pigment Print.
attempts at spectrographs, or an eclipse for albert, 2018. Archival Pigment Print.
tamara suarez porras is an artist, writer, and educator from (south) Brooklyn, NY and currently based in the San Francisco Bay Area. tamara explores the fluid relationships of time, memory, and history through a photo-conceptual, research-centric practice. Her cross-disciplinary work spans across installation, writing, filmmaking, and performance. Her academic research interests currently center on photo-based artists who engage with archival practices to re-center histories. She has exhibited nationally, including at the Brooklyn Museum, School at the International Center of Photography, En Foco Touring Gallery, and Deitch Projects in New York City, as well as fusedspace and Embark Gallery in San Francisco, CA. Her writing has been published on Art Practical and contemptorary. tamara has taught at California College of the Arts, the International Center of Photography, City College of San Francisco (FMYASP) and the New York State Summer School of the Arts. She is a graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in Photography+Imaging and Journalism. She graduated from California College of the Arts with a dual MFA/MA in Fine Arts and Visual and Critical Studies.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Lauren Dare Marcel Houtzager Matt Lopez Megan Prelinger Rick Prelinger Brooke Valentine Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture Sartle.com Thor, Zeus & Jasper
Embark Arts offers exhibition opportunities to graduate students of the Fine Arts in the San Francisco Bay Area. We provide a space for an engaged community of artists, curators and scholars, and we aim to expand the audience for up and coming contemporary art. A non-profit gallery, Embark’s programming represents the diversity of the talented artists studying at eight local artinstitutions: San Francisco Art Institute, UC Berkeley, California College of the Arts, Mills College, San Francisco State University, UC Davis, San Jose State University, and Stanford. The juried exhibitions are held at our gallery in San Francisco at the historic Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture.
Tania Houtzager || Executive Director Angelica Jardini || Curatorial Director