攝影之聲 Issue 19 : #照片#雕塑 #photo #sculpture

In this volume of VOP, we see how “Nerhol” the creative duo made up of Japanese designer Yoshihisa Tanaka and sculptor Ryuta Iida put together layers of photographs with sculpturing and engraving, changing 2D photography to 3D images with multiple points of view, challenging the time-space limits of photographs. Also, we will also learn about how Dutch artist Anouk Kruithof selected official photographs from the Instagram accounts of 81 American organizations to create a series of photo-sculptures using multiple media, through which she explores the changes and construction processes of contemporary image information. In addition, we will see how Korean artist Osang Gwon with his vast number of photographs of objects taken in detail, combines these images into sculptures of various characters and structures, crossing the visual and thought boundaries of 2D and 3D.

We present a special in this issue’s Artist Showcase on Kenta Cobayashi, a visual artist of the digital media age born in 1992. Through his creative journey using free expression with the digital smudge in Photoshop, he re-formalizes the materiality and mechanism of traditional photography, immersing himself in a state of flux when images were born and highlights the technicalities behind visual creations. His work seems to have an affinity with Fluxus bringing this art movement back into the photographic conversation through his various experiments of intervention, destruction and noise in images. The work also reflects the trend of viewing in this time and age.

In this issue’s columns, Shih-Lun Chang touches on the issue of materiality between the grains of film photography and the resolution of digital photography, illustrating the inspiration that can be brought to the nature of photography by the imperfection of images; Zheng Gu critiques Fountain, the recent photography installation work by Chinese artist Dongdong Cai, which examines the practical language of ready-made art in the centennial anniversary of Dadaism’s emergence and influence. In addition, starting from this issue, we invite renowned Hong Kong photography academic Dr. Edwin K. Lai to pen a new column “Image Hong Kong”. He begins with sharing his journey of curating and participating in photography exhibitions in recent years, and will subsequently go on to bring us through the historical lineage of Hong Kong’s photography and its contemporary landscape, providing us with a new link point with East Asian photography.

This year where we witness “Brexit” also coincides with the 100-year anniversary of the “Easter Rising” of 1916 associated with Ireland’s military revolution in a bid to perform a “Brexit”. Although this bid for independence met with failure, it continued to hold key meaning in history for its eventual result in birthing the Republic of Ireland. This year, commemorative activities were held in both London and Dublin. Chiu-­Hung Liang brings us in-depth reports of the visual displays of historical archival images from the two locations, interpreting the revolutionary iconography involved and the intricate influences exerted by photography politics on the images of victims, their memories and legacies.

The “Q” segment features an interview with long-time publisher Gerhard Steidl who founded the publishing house “Steidl” in 1972, well-known for its high quality publications which marks it out as a landmark of the international artistic publication circle. Steidl shares his work experiences as well as observations and opinions about the craft of the print with us in this interview. Also, in this issue’s supplement SHOUT, we present a special excerpt of Chinese artist Yanchu Sun’s Ficciones, where he presents a series of photographs of the everyday life of ordinary people from antique markets in China between the 70s’ and 80s’, employing the means of drawing and collage to recreate images, playing on the relations between the real and the fictional.