Speaking with the artists

The Residual Reality exhibit to me was tremendously interesting. From first seeing the photos on the power point Jyl showed in class, it seemed to me that the pieces that were going to be in the exhibit were not that spectacular. However, that power point did none of those pieces justice. In person, I stood in front of some of the photos for minutes on end, analyzing and interpreting what the artist could have envisioned. My favorite out of the entire exhibit was Daniel Kaufmann and Patrick Nagatani, both of which I was lucky enough to speak with. Out of curiosity, I asked Daniel Kaufmann how he came about creating such real and fluid photos, how long it usually took him, and what materials he was using to put them together. Most interesting to me was that he stated he actually goes into stores and takes photos of objects. It’s from those photos, not magazine clips (which is what I had thought) that complete each of his pieces. I also spoke with Patrick Nagatani, who I felt was the most intricate artist in the exhibit. He told me how the layerings of the masking tape must be very precise and how meticulous it gets around the very small details like crowns and necklaces/bracelets. He explained how he scours magazines, museums, and anywhere possible to chose the figures for his pieces. I also wanted to know how he chooses which objects in the photo he leaves without taping. He replied that there is a significance of each item to the history of the original photo and to the background of that culture. The exhibit as a whole had me talking long after I had left.