Carl Austin Hyatt Portsmouth Harbor Salt Pile Series

C a r l A u st i n H ya t t

PORTSMOUTH HARBOR SALT PILE SERIES

THE BANKS GALLERY

C arl A ust i n H yatt PORTSMOUTH HARBOR SALT PILE SERIES

Portsmouth Harbor Salt Pile Series

As Lu ci a n Freud o n ce o b se r ve d , there is a distinc tion between fac t and tr uth. In p h o to g ra ph y the came ra i s assumed to be recording fac ts; yet in the hands o f a n a rt i s t l i ke C a r l Austi n Hyatt , the d e vice becom es a m edium for the re velation o f l a rge r t r u t h s .

H ya t t ’s w o r k is i mp o rtan t b e cause in it the comm onplace is m ade m yster ious a nd m o n u m en ta l . Thread s o f the sp i ri tual and the arc hetypal r un through Hyatt’s w o r k , i n c l u di n g h is o n go i n g se ri e s o f p hotographs of the Por tsm outh, NH salt piles.

T h e h a r bo r s al t p i l e s, l e vi athan mounds, year ly appear and disappear from Por ts m o u t h ’s w o r k i n g wate rfro n t , whe re the salt is unloaded from ships and stored fo r u s e o n n o r t h ern Ne w En g l an d ’s wi ntr y highways. So muc h for the fac ts.

H ya t t ’s s a l t p i l e s mag n i fi ce n tl y transcend the ac tual. Hyatt’s lens doc um ents a s p ir itu a l ge o m etr y: he fi xe s n o t j ust for m, light , and shadow, but the tim elessness of t h e co n te m p o rar y mo me n t , e ven as it passes. Removed from their e ver y da y con tex t , t h e ir scal e re n d e re d amb i guous, the images in Hyatt’s Por tsm outh Har bo r S a l t P i l e Se r i e s have an e p i c q ual i ty, a sense not just of grandeur, but of the co s m i c a n d t h e i mp e rso n al .

T h o u g h a ppare n tl y as fi xe d as the Egyptian pyram ids (“S17,” “S18”), in fac t the Por t s m o u t h Harb o r sal t p i l e s are e ver c hanging, as Hyatt points out , “constantly m o v in g a n d yet co n tai n e d .” Fo r Hyatt the site seem s to func tion something li ke a ze n ro ck ga rd e n , a n e x us o f chao s and order, inviting spir itual contem plation o f t h e t im e - bo u n d an d the ete rn al , “a m editation on light , sk y, fog.”

Th e s e i m a ges re fl e ct a l i feti me o f exac ting attention to detail, tec hnique, and as s i mi l a ted a r t hi sto r y. I n the i r b egetting also are the m ajesty of glac iers and the s a c re d m o u ntai n s o f Machu P i cchu, Per u (“S1,” “S3”), where Hyatt has spent sign i f i ca n t t im e p ho to g rap hi n g the l andscape and the sham ans w ho intuitively u nd e rs ta n d t h e sp i ri tual i ty o f n ature .

Th e ph o to g rap h d e si g n ate d “ S1 4 ” in par tic ular recalls the lyr ical prec ision a nd p e r fe c t ba l a n ce o f An se l Ad ams, with whom Hyatt studied as a young man. H ere, h o w e v er, Hyatt me d i ate s b etwe e n ear th and the heavens w ith a mighty manmade Ara ra t o f s a l t . C ate rp i l l ar ti re tracks assum e the c harac ter of anc ient petroglyphs; foreg ro u n d t read marks re se mb l i n g an outspread w ing m ir ror an over tur ned arc o f ra dia n t cl o u d.

S e v era l w o r k s i n the se ri e s make d ynamic use of abstrac t industr ial elements. Ima ge s l i ke “ S2 8 ” re cal l Charl e s Sheeler, the master moder nist photographer and pa in ter, w h o se ge l ati n si l ve r p ri n ts em phasized the har m onious “arc hitec tural cad e n ces ” o f in d ustri al co mp l e xe s, p lants, and fac tor ies beginning in the 1920s. H y a t t h a s a s i mi l ar fe e l fo r the sub l im ation of industr ial complexity within sim ple s h a pe s a n d el egan t , e x pan si ve ab strac tions.

Ot h er precu rso rs i n Hyatt’s wo rk are the great moder nist photographers Paul Stra nd a n d E dwa rd We sto n , b o th o f who m m ade abstrac t im ages of objec ts in nature a s w el l a s t h e man mad e fo rms an d “indigenous arc hitec ture” of m oder n industr ia l Am er ica . Ma rce l D uchamp an d Franc is Picabia had introduced the m ac hine into Am er ica n a r t whe n the y arri ve d i n Ne w Yor k in 1913. Sheeler and his contem po ra r ie s res po nd e d b y re cal i b rati n g photography. Indeed, Hyatt has mastered w ha t W e s to n ca l l ed the “d e e p e st mo me nt of perception,” the intense concentration o n rh yt h m , te x ture , an d fo rm n e e d e d to transmute the essence of an objec t , c rea ting a n im a ge m o re “ real ” an d “co mp re hensible” than the objec t itself. (The Grove E nc y c l o pe di a o f Ame ri can Art , vo l . I , p. 195).

Yet Hya t t ’s w o rk al so e n co mpasse s the m inim al, the ethereal, and the ideal. T he w hi ten e s s i n sal t p i l e i mage s such as “S17” and “S18” w ith their pared-dow n, a tm o s ph er ic geo metr y, are d i stan t cousins of Kazim ir M ale vic h’s radically elementa l “ Su prem a ti st C o mp o si ti o n : White on White.” Ar r iving in 1918, M ale vic h’s wo r k e s ta bl i s h e d a n e w thre sho l d fo r abstrac tion, an e volutionar y m oment in Wester n pai n t in g , pro vi d i n g an earl y fo un d ation for impor tant later de velopm ents such as m o n o ch ro m ati c pai n ti n g an d the Amer ican “color field” movem ent rooted in the a b s t ra c t ex pre ssi o n i sm o f Ne w Yo r k dur ing the 1940s and ‘50s. Hyatt’s fogbou nd m o n o l it h s a l so b ri n g to mi n d Ro b er t Rausc henberg’s w hite paintings of the mid 1 9 5 0 s ; fu n c t io n i n g l i ke vi sual koan s, J ohn Cage called them “m ir rors of the air.”

Yet o f co u rs e Hyatt’s sub j e ct matter is contem porar y and spec ific . His is alway s a n exa m i n a t i o n o f val ue re l ati o n ships ac ross multiple sur faces, the expressi v ity of te x tu re a n d n uan ce . I n thi s he i s a bit like contem porar y painter Rober t Ryma n, w ho h a s s a i d he wan ts hi s mi n i ma list , ostensibly all-w hite paintings to func tio n l i ke o bje c t s capab l e o f p ro d uci n g a n exper ience of enlightenment . Hyatt’s w hi tes, l i ke R y m a n ’s , are n e ve r j ust “ whi te ,” m uc h less are the y blank . Rather, both ar t ists e m pl o y a n i n te n ti o n al l y re stri cte d vocabular y to ac hie ve pic tor ial complexity by m a n ipu l a t i n g scal e an d te x ture . Al so like Ryman, rather than consider ing the wo r k of a r t a s a w in d o w o n to an o the r wor ld, Hyatt sees it as a means of foc using perce pt i o n w it h in the ti me an d p l ace of the present m oment .

I t wa s T h o reau’s e xamp l e , that o f “pic king a place and bor ing into it ,” that Hya tt , w ho is fro m t he Co n n eti cut , says l anded him in the Seacoast region of Ne w Ha mp s h i re . H e re h e has d e ve l o p e d hi s talent for profound obser vation and his ab ility to en ter s o dee p l y i n to a p l ace that , as he desc r ibes it , the place begins to feel a s a wa re o f h i s p re se n ce as he i s o f i t’s.

H ya t t ’s ph o to g rap hs re p re se n t fo r the ar tist , as for us, a hard-w on and m etic ulo u s re co rd o f a v i sce ral re sp o n se to the w or ld: How alive can you be? The y are a ca lli ng to a dee pe r, mo re authe n ti c way of being in the w or ld, to ineffable tr uths tha t t ra n s cen d t h e facts: “ Thi n g s we al l k now but dismiss because we don’t belie v e it .

Th i s i s o u r con d i ti o n . I t has take n me years to belie ve in w hat I k now.”

C a r l Au s t in Hyatt’s p ho to g rap hy suggests that ar t is still capable of transm itting t h e a u t h e n t i c e x p e ri e n ce o f b eauty and tr uth, how e ver ineffably, and that both are a lwa y s c l o s er to han d than we thi nk . “The value of great ar t is transmission a nd t ra n s m i s s i o n i s p ri ce l e ss,” he has said. It allow s us “to instinc tively feel some o ne h a s re v ea l e d so methi n g ab o ut l i fe – e ven if it cannot be nam ed.”

-C h r is to ph e r Vo l p e , fo r the Ban ks Galler y

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