Colin Snapp / Latitudes
Feb 25 – Apr 15, 2017
Feb 25 – Apr 15, 2017
alexander levy
rudi-dutschke-str. 26 | d-10969 berlin
The gallery alexander levy is pleased to present the first solo
exhibition of the artist Colin Snapp in Germany from February 25 to April 15,
2017.
Colin Snapp (*1982 Lopez Island WA, USA) deals with the subject of
tourism as a crucial phenomenon of today's mobile world society. His practice
revolves around an indexical approach to both the cinematic and photographic
tradition, the fascination of everyday life and the relationship between travel
and perception.
In his works the observer follows the traces left by travelers. They
give evidence of a continually growing tourist industry and mark the beginning
of a global movement that drastically transforms present day man and the spaces
he passes through. These works speak of the transitory, the need for vacation,
adventure and beauty. We encounter the motif of the desire to free oneself from
everyday constraints and turn towards a paradise-like life.
At a second glance his practice reveals a darker more bizarre way in
which tourism influences the image of a landscape. Through caricaturing
touristic perspectives, Colin Snapp establishes a representation of the
behavioral pattern of how tourist experience, consume and communicate their
holidays. Therefor he examines iconic American destinations such as monuments
and national parks. Throughout his observations he presents these locations as
sites that behave as arenas for a modern form of religious pilgrimage. The way
in which the tourist travels in dictated ways, the repetition of rituals, of
clothing and behavior, and the permanent view through bus windows and camera
screens serve as a basis for his studies of the contemporary experience.
His perception of nature and humanity was strongly affected by growing
up on a small island isolated by the civilization of cities. After studying
film production in San Francisco, he worked as a documentary filmmaker. Videos
are still the starting point for his work. A fundamental aspect of his
production is the development of works of different mediums stemming from one
basic idea. In addition to ND Studies
(neutral density) a new series of photographs, Setra 215 is also included in the current exhibition. Reminiscent
of a Minimal Art work, this large scale sculpture consists of a row of charter
bus windows salvaged directly from a modern bus. The candid correlation to the
travel experiences of an ordinary tourist shows us a distance to the observed
object in the white gallery room.
In turn this notion is also encountered in Colin Snapp's ND Studies. Through a glass lens filter
he re photographed images shot with a disposal camera and re printed them on
large format. The ND Studies point to
the more banal aspect of pre-packaged tours as the in-between zones, images of
information plaques, environmental vandalism or viewing platforms. Photographed
while traveling aboard tour groups within the scenery of Nevada, New Jersey and
Morocco this series acts to glorify aspects of a fabricated sense of place. By
using lens filters, traditionally used in film production to filter and control
the light situation, Snapp’s pictures become observational artifacts, and
remind us of the stereotypical filter applied Instagram or social network
shots. As a result the artist brings to mind contemporary screen culture.
Whether we look through the tinted glass panel of a tourist bus, see the world
through social networks on a computer screen, or simply look through sunglasses
– every time perception of reality is filtered, altered and abstracted.
Furthermore, in the production of the works a kind of reversal of the image
process takes place: as Colin Snapp changes notions of post production by using
collage and layering, rather than Photoshop, he transfers the digital back into
the analogue.