| August at the Purse Building:
Stages of Succession
New work by,
Debbie Riddle & Anderson Wrangle
August 2-31, 1997
Reception August 2, 7-9 PM
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Being interested in the way cities are formed and aspects of how we live in them, I set out to make a series of photographs which pointed up the mutability and plasticity of the city against its seeming permanence. The idea of succession in the natural order led me to think about the city in a similar vein: as an entity which underwent a cycle of growth and demolition, and could change completely its overall structure and identity.
Succession is a term used in forestry and ecology which refers to the sequence and pattern of growth in an area. Given that a piece of land is cleared (by man, fire, etc.) there will follow a set sequence of growth from weeds to bushes to pines to long-lived hardwoods. This cycle lasts around 150 years.
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As the idea of succession is highly literal, I have attempted to treat it photographically through metaphor and comparison. How is the defunct and now gone rice silo a dead and half-eaten gull? What feeling is derived from the juxtaposition of a dead tree in a regenerating meadow, and a monument to past glory in a modern city?
In titling the images I have tried to give further indications of their meaning, rather than definitions. the titles are my working thoughts about the photographs, ideas which begin to take verbal form as I watch an image form in the developer. I have also included factual titles, because as the images are freely and, I believe, appropriately associated, they are also independent document which interact more fully when given their names of time and place.
Anderson Wrangle
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Vestigial agricultural artifacts fall away, as birds moulder on the ground
ARI silos, Houston, TX, 1996;
Dead gull, Cannon Beach, Oregon, 1995
by Anderson Wrangle
photo medium transfer
9.25"h x 9"w
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In recent times our civilization has made leaps and bounds in communication technologies, labor saving devices, and engineering ideals. However, instant
gratification and comfort are paradoxically eroding our values, which were
once exemplified by more simplistic living. Despite resurgence of open discussion
concerning society's ills, culturally our self-imposed isolation is frustrated
by the human need to communicate.
People are constantly in a struggle with each other, themselves, and
nature. The need for control on these different levels gives birth to complacency.
Responsibility and commitment suffer as a result. We take one step forward
just to take two back. |
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Remembering Salad Days
by Debbie Riddle
photo medium transfer,
encaustic paint on canvas
9"h x 12"w
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Society's reaction to violence has become one of complacent commercialism.
From people gathering at the office water cooler to discuss and joke about
a publicized trial to stuffing their son's Christmas stocking with water
pistols, I see the signs of a society mired in apathy. Movies and television
have set forth an appealing yet unnaturally colored and lit perception of
the world. A world that both captivates and disturbs us. This paradox interferes
with our learned social conventions. When we are caught up in the wake of
a car accident, we are compelled to slow down and gawk at the display. Ignorance bred of vanity causes individuals to lose sight of what is ultimately more important: the human life. As a culture, we must take drastic measures to ensure that we do not take each other for granted.
These are the ideas that are continuing to fuel my work. I wish
to push the extremes of these themes, both in a more elaborate and a minimal
fashion. I intend to continue utilizing alternative photographic processes,
and the installation medium.
Debbie Riddle
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