“Conflict Reporting” on Third Text, Volume 35, Issue 2 (2021)
Conflict Reporting
Aestheticising Objectivity
By Alfredo Cramerotti & Lauren Mele
Pages 248-262 | Published online: 29 Jan 2021 | Published in print: February 2021
Abstract
In 2001, artists Broomberg and Chanarin documented a day in the Iraq war. The result was a visual yet non-descript narrative, achieved with light and presence; a physical documentation of their journey titled The Day Nobody Died. In 1968 photojournalist Eddie Adams captured Saigon Execution in Vietnam, also a war-time image but with the lens of reportage. The former is a rendition of their experience, not bound by the constraints and facets of aestheticising fact. The latter was presented as news and was the receiver of outrage and scrutiny as such. This article explores how representations of humanitarian crises and wartime are complicit in their perpetuation, and how art demonstrates an attempt at representing such events as futile. We seek to establish a link between what is viewed and what is reported; what is seen and what remains outside the picture; an attempt to unravel what the difference is between viewing and witnessing.
Abstract available at https://doi.org/10.1080/09528822.2021.1873003
New book by Alfredo Cramerotti: Curating the Image – Notebook for a Visual Journey [Distanz Verlag, Dec 2020]
From the publishers’ webpage:
“Unconscious Informing” – For over twenty years, the curator Alfredo Cramerotti (b. Trento, Italy, 1967; lives and works in Llandudno, Wales) has built an extensive collection of visual materials divided into multiple categories. Newspaper clippings, postcards, drawings, flyers, articles, advertisements, other media materials: Cramerotti finds something of interest wherever he looks. He clusters and collages his finds along five independent thematic foci: design approach, alpine culture, leadership, houseplants, and the gaze. Cramerotti’s interest in creating a system of order and reference takes inspiration from the work of Aby Warburg. He uses his collection of imagery to study formal principles of commercial visual culture, adding ironic observations and drawing connections to media trends. With an essay by the curator.
Curating the Image. Notebook for a Visual Journey (download short extract)
Supported by The Ampersand Foundation, L’Artisan Parfumeur , Maria and Theodore Fatsis, Penhaligon’s, Adam Prideaux and Carolin Scharpff-Striebich. Designed by Laura Catania. Published by Distanz Verlag, Berlin.
New publications by Intellect as part as the Critical Photography book series, edited by Alfredo Cramerotti
Fortunes of War: Photography in Alter Space
By Eric Lesdema Series edited by Alfredo Cramerotti
£49.00 | 120 pages | 7 Oct 2020
An extended edit of Eric Lesdema’s photographic series of the same name, with 83 colour photographs and essays from leading academics which analyse how his work provides an alternative approach to documentary photography. Twenty-first-century interpretations and applications of photography are questioned, as are warfare and its cultural framework.
An extended edit of Eric Lesdema’s photographic series of the same name, with 83 colour photographs and essays from leading academics which analyse how his work provides an alternative approach to documentary photography. Twenty-first-century interpretations and applications of photography are questioned, as are warfare and its cultural framework.
Eric Lesdema’s photographic series Fortunes of War was awarded the UN Nikon World Prize in 1997. Originally a series of fifteen images, this extended edit includes 83 colour photos, accompanied by a series of essays by leading academics in the field. The essays explore ideas raised by the prescient nature of the work, offering a highly original and engaging debate about its alternative approach to documentary photography, which views photography as an alternate space with the potential to project events rather than record them. In exploring an approach that cuts against the traditional concept central to documentary photography since its inception, the book thus raises important questions about twenty-first century interpretations and applications of photography and media. With thought-provoking research and a diverse array of essay contributions, Fortunes of War proposes new lines of interdisciplinary investigation, reflection and inquiry.
Photography as Critical Practice: Notes on Otherness
By David Bate Afterword by Liz Wells Series edited by Alfredo Cramerotti
£45.00 | 300 pages | 15 Dec 2020
A collection that combines visual works with critical essays around the theme of everyday life to explore the concept of otherness and highlight photography as a form of critical practice. Put together in this way, the book images and text work in dialogue with one another to construct a new perspective on questions of otherness and alterity.
The ‘other’ is a topic of great interest within and across contemporary photographic practice and theory, yet it remains neglected outside the now well-established field of postcolonial studies. This volume brings together photography and written essays that relate to aspects of otherness and visual work. Presented together, the images and critical writings work in concert to construct a new social perspective on questions of otherness and alterity and to highlight photography as a form of critical practice.
In a departure from existing conceptions of otherness in postcolonial discourse, Photography as Critical Practice places emphasis on the human condition not as a liberal concept, but as something formed and framed by a broader dimension of social, sexual and cultural otherness. In this way, the book provides a fascinating new vista on the otherness of photography.
‘Conflict Reporting’ on Switch [On Paper] Issue September 2020
Image: Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin, The Press Conference, June 9, 2008 (detail) from The DayNobody Died, 2008
Observing the limits of photojournalism in the face of humanitarian and wartime tragedies, artists have sought ways to bear witness to human suffering freed from the grip of media and government powers. Their approach is not without problems. Perhaps their critical potential lies in testing these limits.
An investigation by Alfredo Cramerotti and Lauren Mele for Switch [On Paper], the only international news weekly where art and culture serve as a window on the world.
Full text here: https://www.switchonpaper.com/en/conflict-reporting/
IDEAL-TYPES [Chapter 2]
Curated by Alfredo Cramerotti and Elsa Barbieri
Marignana Arte
Venice, from 7 May to 7 September 2019
Opening: Tuesday, 7 May, 5:00 – 10:00 pm
Special openings: from Wednesday 8 to Sunday 12 May, 10:00 am – 8:00 pm
Inspired by Max Weber’s theory, whereby for studying a social action without reducing its particularities to a collection of individual events we must start from the perception that the individual has of the real world, this ongoing exhibition project is designed as a speculative tool which makes possible to measure reality: the ideal-type (Idealtypus).
Athanasios Argianas, Maurizio Donzelli, Nancy Genn, Artur Lescher, James Lewis, Alice Pedroletti, Antonio Scaccabarozzi, and Verónica Vázquez, are the eight international artists invited to formulate an artistic language that visually translates the thought relationships when trying to set out a concept; they do so through the dialogue between their respective art works, and with gallery spaces. A methodological paradigm that is never traceable empirically in its conceptual purity, the ideal-type is intended as a utopia that shares characteristics with real objects, even if it does not correspond to any specific example. With it, the materiality of existence must be compared in order to illustrate the
significant elements of its empirical content.
It is thus a matter of adopting something imaginary or intangible to better understand the concrete. The concept does not copy real life but underlines its most intrinsic connections. Without any expectation of objectivity, the artists build a kind of seductive, meticulous and inconsistent verisimilitude to verify empirically. By isolating a particular phenomenon from the complex of interactions, and catching uniform elements in the repetition of the same, each one proceeds in structuring the ideal-type that operates as a unilateral and rational measuring device of reality.
The artworks on display question the viewers by encouraging them to develop always new readings on the being within a visual and spatial conversation. The three wall low reliefs from the series “Clay Pressings” (2016-18) by Athanasios Argianas suggest a liminal space where systems and mechanisms freely swap with intuition. The tapestry “Angelicato” (2014) by Maurizio Donzelli is the result of in-depth research about the manipulation of the image. Works on paper by Nancy Genn, “Construct Blu I” (2003),
“Construct Yellow” (2003) and “Rainbars 6” (2011), are earthy, solid, layered, full of spirituality. Their pure and raw material fits in the unique variations of colours and textures, releasing a sharp and delicate lyricism. The steel sculpture “Sem Título, Da Série Nexus #2” (2013) by Artur Lescher is composed of single pieces in suspension, which highlight their volume and deny the action of the force of gravity. The wood,
paint, resin and lead work by James Lewis, “Diseases of Warm Lands (Rhombus)” (2018), corresponds to an extinct star constellation and is a visual monument to the impossibility of defining the parameters of human understanding and endeavours. “Study for a sculpture” (2016-19) by Alice Pedroletti is a series of photographs and paper sculptures, accompanied by sketches, that recreate a hypothetical landscape. They are fragile and temporary prototypes that constitute a city inspired by organic shapes. The works from the series “Essenziali” (1990-95) by Antonio Scaccabarozzi are self-representations of the pictorial body; free strokes of pure colour, wide, oblique, accurate and strong, without any support. Result of the interpretation of the practise of assemblage and contemporary weaving, “De la série tapices con metales” (2016), “Escultura en acero I” (2016), and “Sin Título” (2018) by Verónica Vázquez express the reperforming value of the material
Artists:
Athanasios Argianas (1976, Athens, Greece; lives and works in London)
Maurizio Donzelli (1958, Brescia, Italy; lives and works in Brescia)
Nancy Genn (1930, San Francisco, United States; lives and works in San Francisco)
Artur Lescher (1962, São Paulo, Brazil; lives and works in São Paulo)
James Lewis (1986, London, England; lives and works in Vienna)
Alice Pedroletti (1978, Milan, Italy; lives and works in Milan)
Antonio Scaccabarozzi (1936 – 2010, Lecco, Italy)
Verónica Vázquez (1970, Treinta y Tres, Uruguay; lives and works in Uruguay)
Curatorial School Malta | Guest Speaker: Alfredo Cramerotti: Curating and Contemporary Art as Social Practices
Curatorial School Malta
September 2018
Alfredo Cramerotti: Curating and Contemporary Art as Social Practices
What I do as a curator is to develop and present statements through the combination of works of art and/or artistic practices that, in my view, ‘connect the dots’ about this or that social, cultural, political or aesthetics matter.
In this context, I have found myself working in a pattern of modes. Sometimes taking a more authorial role and developing concepts and frameworks, some others becoming a conduit for ideas not mine, but translated and transformed by the visual authors. Some other times, facilitating what was already there, and simply heightening the impact or making sure the audience’s experience was in focus. Thus, as a curator, the work undertaken is less about the “what” and more about the “how”.
PART ONE
Keynote: “Conditional Readiness” The Curator and Artist as Social Shaper.
Abstract:
The main idea to discuss is that what a cultural practice does through the audience’s simultaneous experiences shifts from what is represented and originally intended, to a relational-driven form of interaction. This contact stabilizes, only temporarily, a form of mediation that triggers provisional meaning.
We can roughly equate the agency of art with being prepared for something, a “conditional readiness” (MacKay 1969), which implies that one’s understanding of a message is not limited to what to do (in response to it), but is expanded to include what one is ready to do if certain circumstances arise; more an unconscious preparation for an exploration rather than a conscious setting off for a journey.
Meaning is produced neither by the ‘sender’ nor by the ‘receiver’ of the message; it is formed by a readiness to relate to external factors, in terms of ‘performability.’ The agency of art (both in its making and its curating state) therefore arises less from the act of contextualizing and interpreting what we see, and more from the internalized suggestions for possible actions to take; what this performance fosters is a context where we interpret and ‘make sense’ of artistic acts by what they do, the functional aspect.
Examples include a presentation of a few artistic and/or curatorial practices delivered by Cramerotti such as the Maldives Pavilion at the 55th Venice Biennial 2013 and MOSTYN’s History Series Audience Development Programme 2014-17; and artist’s work such as that of Fernando Garcia-Dory, Sarah Pierce, Wochenklausur, the Craftivism movement initiated by Sarah Corbett, Assemble, and others.
PART TWO
Workshop: The Social, Humanitarian, Historical, Scientific as Art.
Day 1 – Participants are invited to develop and present to the group their answers to a set of questions, such as: What does beauty has to do with, for instance, climate change, migration, mental or physical conditions? What is our understanding of aesthetics in relation to ethics? How do we tackle social themes that lend themselves awkwardly to a presentation in the (critical) visual realm?
Day 2 – Starting with case studies such as the Maldives Pavilion and other experiences by the participants, the group will relate their respective projects and highlight what worked and what did not, and why.
Day 3 & Day 4– Based on the brief proposals sent in advance, participants are invited to present to the group their next project plan (exhibition, residency, online platform, public programme, architectural or design commission, educational initiative, symposium, workshop, etc.). This will be a practical, project management-focused ‘tool kit’ that can be used to refine their specific plans.
Day 5 – Alternative scenarios: Could each participant’s project be produced somehow else? Is its digital platform following the concept and the execution, or preceding it? Is the range of artworks / artists / partners / speakers leading to unexplored territories or consolidating an prefigured approach?
More information here.
Forewords | Hyperimages and Hyperimaging
This collection of short essays sometimes dances around issues and takes an oblique approach to the subject of the hyperimage, nevertheless serving to augment our understanding of the idea. What is unique about this book is thirty five pieces of writing, now approaching one theme, which, due to the nature of the commissioning of the individual texts, all enter the subject from different points, with differing influences and different spatial/temporal considerations.
Not only has the accumulation of the texts taken place over time, traversing projects, artists and locations; it has also occurred in tandem with technological developments which have served to shape much of our activity, both quotidian and also professionally as cultural producers.
Forms of Tension
Ewa Axelrad // Profile of the Artist
By Alfredo Cramerotti
THE SEEN
Download the full Artist Profile here
Press coverage for MOSTYN exhibitions: Irma Blank and Laura Reeves
Roven n°12: Les Rituels du dessin: SUR LE RITUEL. CINQ QUESTIONS À IRMA BLANK
by Alfredo Cramerotti, Irma Blank, Joana Neves [Ed.]
15 March 2016
Daily Post: What’s On / Q&A
20 February 2015
Le Maldive a Venezia. Cronaca di un debutto – interview [Italian]
Espoarte.com
Intervista a CAMILLA BOEMIO e ALFREDO CRAMEROTTI
5 Luglio 2013
di Francesca Di Giorgio
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