Misunderstandings (A Theory of Photography) Exhibit

Mel Bochner, and responses by:

Mohamed Almusibli
Giulia Essyad
Maxwell Graham
Marsh Green
Doris Guo 
Hardy Hill
Bradley Kronz
Adam Martin
Ella Mathys
Puppies Puppies
 

Opening weekend: Saturday, June 13    14:00 - 17:00

Mel Bochner’s Misunderstandings (A Theory of Photography) (1967-70) consists of nine offset prints on note cards containing handwritten quotations from famous thinkers about the nature of photography. A third of these quotes were fabricated by the artist and, in the age of the internet, it remains unclear which. A tenth card reproduces a work from an earlier series, Actual Size(1968), as an impossible Polaroid negative. Contradictory statements, loss of meaning and questioned authenticity compound across the cards. Published by Multiples Inc. as part of Artists & Photographs, the work is a prescient and continuously relevant mediation on the subjectivity of the photographic image and documented thought.

“Misunderstandings (A Theory of Photography) Exhibit” brings together this Bochner work and ten photographic responses to the individual cards. Printed and hung as physical snapshots, the exhibition creates a feed of further translations during a time where content sharing of image and knowledge appears encompassing. The request made of these artists by Plymouth Rock mimics the constant request for disposable digital content by many institutions over the past few months. By transferring these ideas into the physical realm of an exhibition we question the throwaway treatment of creative thought and insist on considered, in person interactions.

Bochner’s Misunderstandings stands out as a seminal work about the contradictions and subjectivities of not just photography, but of understanding and society and life. I am grateful for the consideration and time that Mohamed, Giulia, Maxwell, Marsh, Doris, Hardy, Brad, Adam, Ella and Jade took during these times to participate. 

I look forward to sharing this exhibition and these artists’ interpretations and reactions with you safely in person, and later, in the spirit of contradiction, digitally on our website.