LARS ANDERSON – www.larsandersonimages.com
Artist Interview by Juan Madrid
This is an open series of interviews with the artists in the Photography Now 2017 exhibition.
“The images in the Access series feature lattices that act as filters for the reality coming to us from the other side. These filters also affect our perception of figure and ground.“
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1. Where are you from, and what is your background in photography? How did you get into photography?
I’m originally from Iowa City, Iowa. I first picked up a camera with artistic intent in 2007. I had made plenty of photographs while traveling that I thought were pretty nice. When I showed them to my brother, who is an amazing artist, he gave me a blunt critique. That was the beginning of my education in photography.
2. What inspired you to make the work in Photography Now 2017? What is the work about? Please describe one piece, the evolution of the concept, and the process?
My desire to push through and complete the Access series was inspired to some degree by failure. I explore the industrial world and sometimes I’m stymied by barriers. I’ve found that looking through the fence produces interesting results. The visual effects create a situation whereby what you see depends on where you stand. This situation has become for me a metaphor for our socio-political situation. Cincinnati #12 is a good example of the eye trick that can happen in this series.
3. Much of the work in Photography Now 2017 seems to describe a distance between the subject and the viewer, a disconnection, and/or a dystopian situation. How do you think your work relates to these ideas?
The images in the Access series feature lattices that act as filters for the reality coming to us from the other side. These filters also affect our perception of figure and ground. In many ways, the media outlets we choose have always filtered our reality, and told us what is figure or ground. It is up to the viewer to decide if these conditions, amplified by new media, are causing a trend toward dystopia, are an effect of such a trend, or neither.
4. What are you working on now?
I’m continuing to examine the industrial world, but I’m shifting toward more representational, yet quirky images.
5. What is the one photograph you always wanted to make but never could?
Hmm. It’s too early to answer that question. I still hope to make them all before I leave the planet.
General exhibition information:
Photography Now 2017
November 4, 2017 – January 14, 2018
Juried by William Ewing
Featured Artists: Lars Anderson, Sarah Anthony, Ben Arnon, Sandra Bacchi, John Barnard, Emily Berl, Adam Bernard, Christopher Paul Brown, Tianqiutao Chen, Jennifer Garza-Cuen, Orestes Gonzalez, Tamar Granovsky, Alejandro Loureiro Lorenzo, Jeanette May, Zora Murff, Laurie Peek, Ceaphas Stubbs and Ayumi Tanaka.
See full exhibition information or exhibition guide (issuu.com).
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