Dark Issue by Meanstream

M EA N S T R EA M DARK ISSUE

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KRAMER 0’NEILL Please introduce yourself. I’m Kramer O’Neill. I take pictures, often while on my way somewhere. I also selfpublish books, and am a founding member of the strange.rs photo collective. On the sliding scale of how most people have lived in the history of humanity, I’m doing pretty damn well. But that’s no excuse for complacency. How did you become a photographer? I rarely call myself one, so I’m probably not a good person to ask. What was your very first influence? My mom. She photographed for a local newspaper, and was the first person to point out to me why and how photos worked (or didn’t). And both of my parents took a lot of photos in their twenties, which they collected in binders that I used to flip through. In retrospect, the way those photos created narratives probably had a huge influence on me. My parents came from very different places in the United States and ended up meeting when they were in the US Army in Vietnam. That story of 50s and 60s American youth turned to military careerism turned to overseas adventurism, then to disillusionment, was buried in this bookshelf full of photo albums and slides, and we children were free to find it. In a way, I probably started editing photos as a five-year-old, seeing which images built and enhanced the story, and which didn’t fit. Who are your favorite artists? So many people could fit this category, but to arbitrarily limit it to painters: Vermeer, Caravaggio, and Hopper immediately come

to mind as people who really saw light and space in an inspirational way. Today, what is your strongest inspiration? The British documentary filmmaker Adam Curtis. His work will really alter the way you look at the world. Also, I’ve been working in a corporate office out of necessity, but I try to look at everything as an anthropological opportunity, so office culture is oddly inspiring at the moment. So is “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.” How these things will seep into my work, I do not know, but I know they will. Can you tell the craziest experience you have had in your work? Finding people willing to support it. What is the feeling that you wish to communicate in your work? “Sous les pavés, la plage!” The facade of modern life may be necessary, and it may even do right by you, but don’t forget: it is an illusion, and it always has been. It’s impossible to notice all the details or see all the connections. I can only collect a few to show people, and maybe that will help a tiny bit to illuminate the mystery of life. What is your artist’s leitmotiv? “The world is not enough”? Have you got other current projects? Paying debts accrued printing my last book. Where do you find your ideas for the pictures? Everywhere. What is your dream project?

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Someone drops me in the middle of a city somewhere and tells me I have a month to walk around with a camera. What is your worst vice? Nail biting (and the insecurity it implies). As a compulsive nail biter, I’ve noticed you don’t know how awful it is until you spend a lot of time with someone who also does it. Are you religious and who is your God? I have Catholic guilt but I’m not really a Catholic. Everyone’s existence is the result of so many crazy coincidences as to be totally unbelievable. If the word “miracle” means anything, we are all miracles. An important idea to keep in mind while you’re getting shoved around on the subway during your daily commute. What do you think about the end of the world this year? People’s worlds are ending all the time. How do you think photography will have changed by 2050? I keep being told that technology always makes everything better, so I presume all photography will be roughly ten times better than it is now. It works like that, right? Could you recommend some new photographers? Ben Roberts, benrobertsphotography.com Alex Cretey, systermans.com Devin Yalkin, devinyalkinphotography.com Some old photographers? Sid Grossman. He founded the New York Photo League in the 1930s and died young – betrayed, denounced and ruined by anticommunist zealots. In between, he created a body of work that probably rivals that of any photographer in history – I say “probably” because his work is now rather hard to find, and nobody knows how many of his masterpieces were discarded (intentionally

or otherwise). His work resembles greats like Joseph Koudelka and Trent Parke, only he was doing it thirty, forty, fifty years earlier, pushing the boundaries of documentary photography into surreal, expressionistic areas. He was so far ahead of his time, he was never going to be properly appreciated within it. So instead he was destroyed. It’s crazy. A website about photography? La Pura Vida, lpvmagazine.com A movie about photography? “Salvador,” by Oliver Stone. He’s not a subtle filmmaker - and he’s now past the point of self-parody - but his early stuff really burned. Speaking of burning, see also: “Nostalgia” by Hollis Frampton. That movie will teach you everything you need to know about image-making. A book about photography? It’s really about motion picture editing, but its lessons translate perfectly to constructing still image sequences: “In the Blink of an Eye” by Walter Murch. A picture everyone should see? “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus” by Pieter Bruegel. Something for breakfast? Nothing beats a good croissant. If you can find one. An artist, that would you like to see in this interview section immediately after you? Cildo Meireles. Last words? Occupy everything.

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D0RIANNE w0TT0N Please introduce yourself. 31 years old, I live and work in Paris. I present a physical feature – two arms, two legs, a head… but three eyes. Ever since childhood I’ve practised various means of expression and it is by chance and as a self-taught person that I started photography in 2007. Then, I have been quickly interested in the production of video clips, which allowed me to give to my work a more dynamic way. Then, I quickly got interested in the making of video clips, in order to give my work a more dynamic way. I made this learning “on the job”, with guidance, advice and criticism from various professionals. This path can have drawbacks. It nevertheless has the advantage of free technical constraints and have a more instinctive, more free. Nevertheless, it has the advantage of freeing me from technical constraints. And it’s more instinctive, more free. Many projects (productions, screenings, publications, exhibitions, etc...) have been completed or are underway. I have also developed a multidisciplinary approach, in particular through generative art installations (mixing audio and visual creations). Finally, I work in the writing of short texts (short stories, scenarios, etc...) related to my images in the prospect of a draft publication or screenings. How did you become a photographer? I became interested in photography because of the need to explore various modes of expression. I always need to explore various modes of expression. Photography is one of them.

Driven by a form of anger, a sordid ironic distress, I’ve always tried to convey in my creations a sweet disillusion, or even an elegant uneasiness as to the outside reality. Resorting to different embellishments to make my reality more acceptable to eyes too often hurt is sometimes a necessary evil... In this respect, photography turned out to be a powerful medium that allows me to transcribe these mental images which I did not know how to express, and to represent my visions. Photography is also an introspective process to deal with my demons, my neurosis, to control my instability, to repress my passions. As I love the solitude inherent to photography, capturing images has quickly become a great physical and intellectual joy. I had acquired a camera in 2007 and realized that photography is a powerful medium which would allow me to re-create the images that are in my mind. Photography is what brings my visions and perceptions of the world to life. The pursuit of images became my passion. I began photographing still-lifes and a short time later I moved onto shooting portraits. I became very critical of my images during this time and realized that something was missing. I needed something else so I started taking pictures of my close friends and then recently began working with models. What was your very first influence? It may seem paradoxical, but photography has never been (and is still not) my primary source of inspiration. I prefer the “moving” images. Cinema of course, (from German expressionists to Lynch, Kubrick or Waters... what a program!) but also (and es-

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pecially) video clips have always been very important to me. Regarding more specifically he video clip: the combination on the same support of various data such as music, images and words, which work together perfectly with a specific creativity, that is something I was looking for when I begun my own creations. Literature also inspires me. Before being photographs, my “pictures” were first and foremost metaphors. Who are your favourite artists? I do not have one particular favourite artists – the entire world inspires me. Curious by nature, I am interested in the work of other artists. Amateurs or professionals. Known or unknown. Anyway, the boundarie between these categories is very thin. Today, what is your strongest inspiration? Everything. Nothing. I do not have a favourite theme. As objects and subjects of my graphic works respond to my artistic approach, everything is potentially a source of inspiration. So my main source of inspiration is the world. What I see, analyze, dissect, assimilate and triturate every day! Can you tell the craziest experience you have had in your work? May be my work itself. Creating is a crazy experience already. What is the feeling that you wish to communicate in your work? Photography makes people dream, it acts on our reverie and our unconscious. It inhabits our imagination and our imaginary. It makes us shift into another space and another time. With photography, I don’t think, I dream. A sad and tender renunciation; a languishing agony. A complex ideal. Searching deep inside me, I try as best as I can to give shape to these vague aspirations, these miseries without reason, these emotions without purpose. In a society

where immediacy is prevalent, I chose to freeze time. My photographic approach is mainly devoted to the depiction of the aesthetic of desolation. It is about showing the world as I feel it, emphasizing the obscure, the mysterious... Pointing at what we comprehend of misery, weakness, ordinariness and ugly... Drawing the attention on what makes sense, on these multitudes of small things upon which we don’t dwell because they don’t fit the aesthetic or moral codes. Showing how the world can be dark, painful, etc. Acknowledging that everything is inhabited by the illusion, the fictional, the imaginary, the unreal, in short, fiction. Everything then becomes a potential object and subject of my creations, provided that they answer this artistic approach. Thereby, each cycle is a new mission, a wandering, a search for these images that aim above all at depicting the aesthetic of desolation. This approach is then visually characterized by breaks, discontinuities and a poetic of discrepancy, crossover and mixture, whatever the subject. A long way from the pretentious sophisticated refrains and the technical and aesthetic codes, it’s always a matter of sensations. Therefore, I don’t limit myself by a photographic format or taboos. Grain, fuzziness, textures, double exposure, distortion, accidents. I make this process give everything that is possible. They are depictions of the unconscious, they are dreams that take the viewer to another space and time. My work denies the audience the possibility of enjoying my creations as they would wish it, to amputate them of their feelings. What’s the point of explaining my creations that comes from the depths of my being; where my unconscious expresses itself partially? I am not even sure what I want to show, or what I saw, or what you see, or what someone else sees. The lens reveals subjectivity, so everyone has to see, and

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form their own opinion. I want to depict the world the way I feel it, to underline the obscure, the mysterious. I want to challenge our understanding of misery, weakness and ugliness. I want to show that the world can be dark, that the world can be painful. I want to acknowledge the wild side, the fictitious, the imagination and show that the surreal lives in everything. Although I am fascinated with the dark and the strange I don’t want to limit myself to just that. So I take photographs. Or at least, I try. Fleeting reflections, confused echoes of my conscience; distorted mirrors of the harshness, cruelty and merciless violence of the real; angers, daydreams and paradoxes... Secretly hoping that Others will share this quest for (non) sense and this apologia for desolation. What is your artist’s leitmotiv? I don’t know if it is a “leitmotiv”. But I aim to create images which evoke lively emotions in people. I don’t try to be liked by all. I prefer that someone deeply detests one of my creations rather than having no emotional response at all. Have you got other current projects? I have a lot of things currently on the go, but I am superstitious so I dare not speak about it. I have several exhibitions to come, especially in France. I am trying to expand my horizons beyond France. Some exhibitions are already planned abroad, but it would be really great if there could be more. I also have an interest in video making and I am about to realize some video projects (from short films to VJing/experimental works) I am also working on visual (photographic and video) exhibitions with the possibility of transdisciplinary installations/performances (video, music, literature), etc. I experience now with Exomene an installation of “gen-

erative art” developed directly from still (or captured) images, with an interactive approach with the audience. I participate and make performances mixing reading, video and music too. Performed by a trio consisting of Exomene (music), Marianne (text and interpretation) and Dorianne Wotton (images), our three dreamlike, disturbing and crazy worlds cross, tangle and merge to create the “spoken worms”. The spoken worms have already performed several times in Paris. We are looking for new opportunities. More generally, I am interested in the possibilities offered by new technologies and I think several upcoming projects will focus on them. What is your dream project? If “dream” means “wish”, “ideal”... that’s a question I never asked myself... and I think I will never do! On the one hand, I do not live in the conditional tense. I am an instinctive person. And on the other hand, it’s like a phantasm that you realize: what is left after this great pleasure called “dream” has been achieved? By formalizing too precisely my desires and aspirations, I would be too afraid of being left with only a huge void when my goals are achieved. Finally, this would imply that I am able to have a clear vision of what I want. And, since I am everything and its opposite, it is Impossible for me to know what my “dream” could be :) What is your worst vice? Living. Are you religious and who is your God? I describe myself as a mystic atheist. I do not believe in God but I have a deep and intense mystic temper. What do you think about the end of the world this year? One end of the world among many others...

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How do you think photography will have changed by 2050? When photography appeared, people believed that painting was about to disappear. Painting did not disappear. So will photography! Of course, photography as we knew it is gradually disappearing! But it is a natural evolution. At the beginning of photography, the aim was to reproduce what the eye could see. More than a century after, artists turned the photographic medium into an instrument of their dreams. What about tomorrow? We must learn to seize new possibilities and we must adapt. There will be many new opportunities. But I am afraid that photography (as many other arts) won’t manage to take the “digital turn”, the emergence of the Internet, etc. The image as it can be thought today is inseparable from how it is spread and how it is used on the internet. In face of this constant flow of images, we must ask ourselves about the issues of the uses of photography and images. Who takes the pictures? For whom? Who show these pictures? The flow of the images involves an eternal renewal and thus an accumulation. The relationship we have to images will certainly change. But there is no need to worry, and no reason to be nostalgic. I don’t know what will be the photography in 2050, but it is pretty exciting to be part of this evolution. Could you recommend some new photographers? I do not know if it’s an advantage or not, but I do not have an encyclopedic knowledge on that subject. And there is always a risk of naming someone and skipping other one. So... I give up!

ally quite eclectic: Ackermann, Clark Callahan, Witkin, Corbjin, Arbus... They are so numerous, so varied... so common! A website about photography? The web is full of websites and blogs about photography. I won’t be able to name just one. Let’s surf! A movie about photography? (You are starting to believe that I do not want to answer the questions, aren’t you?) Spontaneously , I do not have an advice for a movie about photography. But the directors I like best (or the best directors ever) began as photographer. For instance, I have mentioned Kubrick as a great inspiration. It is a good example. So, I advise to look at movies by (former) photographer! It may be a great movie!^^ A book about photography? I am still waiting for nowadays version of “La chambre claire” by Barthes... A picture everyone should see? Who am I to tell you what you should see? Something for breakfast? Breakfast? Do you mean the meal in the morning? I can’t tell! I live at night! an artist, that would you like to see in this interview section immediately after you? I don’t know... Let’s see... May be you should interview my partner in life/art/ crime, which is also a great artist (and I don’t say that because he is my partner in life/art/crime): Exomene Last words? I am not guilty!!!!!!!

Some old photographers? Simon Marsden gave me the desire to get behind the lens. His world is an invitation to the mystery. Otherwise, my tastes are actu-

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MEANSTREAM meanstream

meanstream

е антипод на мейнстрийм сцената, още една стъпка встрани от нея. meanstream e посветен на изкуството във всички му форми и метаморфози – изкуство, споделено като преживяване, както от утвърдени, така и от неизвестни артисти. meanstream чертае граници, само за да ги прекрачва. ние обичаме изкуството, но по един не-снобски начин.

is an antipode of the mainstream, another step out of it. meanstream is dedicated to art in all of its various forms. the promotion of all alternative art means promoting work from established and emerging artists together which is the goal of the “mean”. that’s why meanstream is pure spirit of stream idealism or just another life lesson of drawing no boundaries. we love art, in a way of non-snob.

редакция

editorial

главен редактор sainteugenius@meanstream.info

editor in chief sainteugenius@meanstream.info

редактор stranski@meanstream.info

editor stranski@meanstream.info

уеб дизайн pyotr@meanstream.info

web design pyotr@meanstream.info

фотография fucsia@meanstream.info

photography fucsia@meanstream.info

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предложения

submissions

meanstream ще разгледа получените предложенията – моля, обърнете внимание на спецификациите, които следват по-долу. всички предложения трябва да бъдат изпратени по e-mail на

meanstream will consider submissions – please ad here to the submission specifications below. all submissions should be sent via e-mail to: houston@meanstream.info

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SUBMISSI0NS адрес: houston@meanstream.info I. за да представите фотографии/ творческо портфолио, изпратете... 1. портфолио – до 15 снимки в – jpg, 300 dpi, макс. 800 pix във височина 2. заглавие на портфолиото 3. творческо позиция в работата – описваща портфолиото в по-голяма дълбочина 4. творческа биография – кратка биография за автора и кариерата му

I. to submit a photos/art portfolio, please send: 1. portfolio – up to 15 pictures in – jpg, 300 dpi, max. 800 pix in height 2. title of portfolio 3. artist statement on the work – describing the portfolio in greater depth 4. artist bio – a short bio about yourself and your career

II. за да представите писмени работи, свързани с фотография, изкуството, музика, кино, театър, поезия, дизайн, моля изпратете... 1. писмена работа – статия, интервю, анализ, поема, история и т.н. 2. заглавие на творбата 3. творческа биография – кратка биография за автора и кариерата му

II. to submit photo, art, music, movie, theatre, poetry, design-related written work, please send: 1. written piece – the articlе, interview, story, etc. itself 2. title of piece 3. artist bio – a short bio about yourself and your career

кой може да предлага творби?

who may submit work?

всички аматьори и професионални фотографи, художници, писатели, поети, музиканти, дизайнери могат да предлагат творбите си за публикация в meanstream. правете го толкова често, колкото искате. ние търсим само оригинални произведения на изкуството.

all amateur and professional photographers, artists, writers, poets, musicians, designers are encouraged to submit their work to meanstream. you may submit as often as you like. we are looking for original photography, writings and artwork.

условия за ползване работи, публикувани в meanstream са собственост на съответните им автори. нито една от работите не може да бъдат изтегляна,

terms of use works published on meanstream are property of their respective artists. none of the works may be downloaded, stored, printed, manipulated, distributed, or used in any

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THE LAW продавана, печатана, манипулирана, разпространявана или използвана под каквато и да е друга форма, без предварително писмено разрешение от притежателя на авторското право.

form without prior written permission from the copyright holder.

работите, публикувани в meanstream са защитени от вътрешните и международни закони за авторското право и не се считат за обществено достояние. meanstream не носи правна отговорност за работите на своите сътрудници. всички творби представени за публикация в meanstream, трябва да бъдaт единствена, оригинална собственост на сътрудника/ците.

works published on meanstream are protected under domestic and international copyright laws and are not considered to be public domain. meanstream assumes no legal liability whatsoever for the works of its contributors. all works submitted to meanstream must be the sole, original property of the contributor(s), have the appropriate model releases, and cannot interfere with any other publication or company’s publishing rights.

предлагайки работи за публикуване в meanstream, вие упълномощявате meanstream с неекзсклузивен лиценз за използване на работите в предоставения им вид, при условие че са подходящо оразмерени, за да паснат на формата на meanstream, в периода на съществуване на meanstream.

by submitting works for publication in meanstream you are granting meanstream a non-exclusive license to use the work in its submitted form, subject to re-sizing to fit the meanstream’s format, for publication on the meanstream for as long as the meanstream exists.

ако поради някаква причина искате вашите работи да бъдат премахнати от meanstream, ние ще направим всичко възможно, за да го направим. meanstream и съдържанието му са защитени в световен мащаб чрез авторското право и сродните права на интелектуалната собственост.

and also should you, for any reason, wish your artwork to be removed from meanstream, we will make every effort to do so. meanstream and the contents there are protected worldwide by copyright and related intellectual property rights.

потребителите са свободни да изтеглят, използват и разпространяват meanstream, при условие, че не променят или оспорват

users are free to download, use and redistribute meanstream, provided that they are not modified, and that the copyright and disclaimer notice are not modified. mean-

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THE LAW съдържанието или авторските му права. meanstream или съдържанието му – такова, каквото е или комбинирано по какъвто и да е друг начин – не могат да се продават с цел печалба или да се използват като част от комерсиални проекти, без писменото разрешение на техния автор.

stream or its content – as such or in whatever way combined – may not be sold for profit or incorporated in commercial documents without the written permission of the copyright holder.

неоторизираното използване на отделни страници, изображения или други елементи на meanstream, в други уеб сайтове, печатни продукти или електронни медии е напълно забранено.

unauthorized inclusion of single pages, graphics or other components of meanstream in other web sites, print products or electronic media is prohibited.

с използването на meanstream, вие заявявате съгласието си с онлайн политиката на meanstream. ако не сте съгласни с тази политика, моля не използвайте meanstream.

by using meanstream, you signify your acceptance of the meanstream online policy. if you do not agree to this policy, please do not use meanstream.

meanstream си запазва правото да променя или актуализира тази политика по всяко време, така че е препоръчително посетителите да преглеждат условията за промени. ако продължите да използвате meanstream след публикуването на промени в тези условия, това ще означава, че приемате тези промени.

meanstream reserves the right to modify, alter or otherwise update this policy at any time, so visitors are encouraged to review this policy from time to time. your continued use of the meanstream following the posting of changes to these terms will mean you accept those changes. аll copyright remain that of the holder, every effort was made to contact every author or artist.

ако сме използвали работата на автор без неговото разрешение, съжаляваме, но наистина сме се опитали да се свържем с вас. в такъв случай, уведомете ни и ще направим всичко възможно, за да ви направим щастливи. b

if we have used your work without asking you, we are very sorry, we really did try to contact you. let us know and we’ll do our best to make you happy. b

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Luca Mainini