When we were first assigned this assignment, my mind flew through a myriad of images which I had seen in galleries and museums over the years, which had ‘stuck’. What I mean by this is that there are some images that I recreate simply by closing my eyes, the image posted earlier in this class of the mother and child by Donatello is one example. I therefore thought this an important opportunity to try to understand why a particular image has etched itself into my mind, so I took a few of my art books off the shelf and started flipping through them. Most of the art books I own are from exhibits I have actually visited (hence the ‘official’ exhibition book), so it was no wonder that I eventually gravitated to the Phil Bergerson exhibit (and book) entitled Shards of America (2004) I saw in the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography in Ottawa in October 2004. This is a photo exhibit which I still think fondly about on a regular basis, one image in particular: Untitled Print # 733. I therefore hunkered down and starting staring at this picture, however, it did not seem to illicit the same types of interest/passion I remembered. It was only when I went back and looked at the picture in series with the two previous (Untitled Print # 448 and Untitled Print # 689) did it begin to recover some of my previous interest.
It is important to note that the Shards of America exhibit consists of 120 photographs Phil Bergerson collected throughout the 1990s and early years of the new millennium. What sets these photos apart, or at least draws them together, is that they are almost all pictures of street facing facades which when viewed individually, seem to juxtapose elements of the photo with other parts of the very same photo – this is how Bergerson attempts to have viewers interrogate seemingly benign and meaningless images of everyday streets in America.
Untitled Print # 448: http://www.philbergerson.com/A030.html
This is a picture of a tree without any leaves on it – essentially the naked branches. The tree is most likely dead and has been fastened to a white fence with some type of metal coloured fasteners. At the base of this tree we see a piece of crumpled newspaper that has come to rest where the tree would normally be rooted into the ground. Above the horizontal line created by the top of the fence, the tree sticks up several feet – this is the only part of the branches that are not fastened. Behind the fence, we see what appears to be the upper half of a one storey cream-coloured building, perhaps a house. A window is visible on the building, and in it we see a reflection (from behind the photographer) of one or two tree tops – still very much alive. At the top of the building, we notice a metal chimney stack, secured by two 45 degree wires. Focus returns to the fastened tree however, when we notice that the fence has an inset built directly into it which forms the ‘frame’ for the tree.
Untitled Print # 689: http://www.philbergerson.com/A031.html
This is a picture of either the Statue of Liberty etched onto a building, or the building itself. At the centre of the picture, is the outline of the Statue of Liberty, it is not clear whether there were distinct details within this outline as much of the white wall upon which it is drawn seems to be chipping/peeling away. Horizontally across the image is the word “LIBERTY” in block text, this word too is chipping/peeling away. Above we see what might be a metal awning, and below the cement sidewalk, these form the ‘frame’ for this image. To the left of the LIBERTY is a large glass window which reaches from about the top of the frame, to about a foot above the bottom of the frame (cement sidewalk). To the right of the LIBERTY is another glass window, much the same as the one on the left, and to its right, a door. The windows and door seem to have curtains drawn, so we cannot see what is inside. The right window has a rectangular sign perched above its curtain, with “CLOSED” written in black block letters. Near the bottom of this same window, a large rectangular sticker has been chipped/pealed away at its corners, the only words/letters visible read “…ON…[top line]…ORDERS. [bottom line]”. The reflection in both windows (behind the photographer) seems to indicate a street with traffic and many tall trees on the other side.
Untitled Print # 733: http://www.philbergerson.com/A032.html
This is a picture of what appears to be a basketball court, however, the court seems to have lost its initial purpose and is now being used as some type of storage area of discarded (but neatly stacked) building materials (gravel, loose gravel, industrial black piping. We can see the metal basketball pool, backboard and net as it stands above all the materials. The net, which looks like string, is torn and falling off the basketball rim. The backboard, which is white, has been painted with yellow five-point stars and a large Superman with red cape flowing in the middle. The Superman is looking off to the right, one hand above his head. Around what was the court, we see the orange wire-mesh fencing. Behind this fencing, and behind the Superman backboard, we see a white Virgin Mary statue, arms open and flowing robes. The entire background is filled by the brick and mortar of a large building, its windows blacked and covered by black mess wiring. The orange fencing and the brick building appear to create a 90 degree angle which ‘frames’ the former basketball court and the towering Superman backboard. However, the Virgin Mary statue is located behind the orange fencing (frame) and is therefore ever so slightly out of focus.
Interpretation
Together, these three images seem to question some of the foundations of everyday life and meaning making. I believe this is what I saw on October 2004 and have been able to bring out as I viewed the images once more. The dead and barren tree, its branches fastened securely to the fence and flanked by its two usages in the current world: paper at its base, and fuel for the chimney above. Nature here is a product to be stripped down and consumed in one form or another. The reflection of the living trees in the window of the building, appearing almost within the building itself, allude to the ominous eventuality that they to will be consumed. The LIBERTY, chipping away, at first seems to highlight a theme in American pop culture of the rights and freedoms of individuals simply fading away. However, the LIBERTY seems to be etched/painted onto a building that may have been a restaurant. This is important as it brings to mind the idea of consumption once again. Here, LIBERTY, CLOSED, and ON ORDERS are tied together with this theme of consumption, and the viewer is left wondering whom controls consumption, the individual or someone/something much bigger which can just close its doors, and on orders curtail liberty. By the time we reach the Superman, we are beginning to see that the central objects (tree, Statue of Liberty, Superman) are in fact products of the consumption process, products that individuals rarely have control over. So the Superman offers a striking contrast – is not Superman the champion of individual strength and individual action? He may be, but the court/playground over which he patrols is no more, rather filled with the building blocks of the structures of modern consumer society. The Virgin Mary is doubly striking here, for she and the notions of spirituality and religion she represents, has been relegated to the background, fenced off from everything and becoming part of the building/structures of modern consumer society.
Reflexivity
I have to admit that I pondered this interpretation for quite some time, and ran it past a few friends, some of whom saw what I was getting at and others that felt my interpretation was completely out there. I realize that my interpretation is partly coloured by my current readings of Marxist Critical Theory, but that would not completely explain how I came to some of these same types of conclusions in October 2004. For the most part, I realize that when it comes to art, a viewer will see what they want to see, however, the artist, when developing an exhibit does have certain themes they wish to explore. Bergerson’s focus in this series is on the outward view of street facing facades, sometimes homes, but for the most part stores and advertisements, which is why I believe the consumption theme is prevalent in all his images. This is something that was almost subconscious to me when I sat down to write this analysis, but became clear as I interrogated each image individually, then linked them together to form my final interpretation.
References:
Bergerson, Phil. (2004). Shards of America. New York: Quantuck Lane Press. http://www.philbergerson.com/
Comments may be directed to Bhuvinder S. Vaid.
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