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Plasticity Office Unveils "(echo) and so,"
This immersive experience, conceived by Maxi Glenn and Laila Rosen and enhanced by Felix Bryan's performance, is designed to unravel the confines of our senses, inviting us to explore the past, present, and future. (echo) and so, defies linearity; it is an experience that resists recall, instead existing as a "temporal capsule," a realm of memory activated through a multisensory journey.
Maxi Glenn's mastery of soundscapes establishes ambiance as the prevailing force in this sonic domain. Within this audio landscape, touch, movement, and breath converge with ambient sounds. Light serves as a lens, allowing participants to traverse memory's realms. Through Bryan and Rosen's movements, emotion weaves into the auditory tapestry, forging an organic collaboration that transports the project into its self-contained universe.
This performance carries a sense of inception, beckoning to various points in the past, present, and future, all while challenging the constraints of time. Rosen and Glenn aspire to "unearth the fragments of unconnected moments in time that persist through the remnants of 'what's left' after an ending occurs."
Attempting to recollect this performance within the confines of traditional memory proves futile. '(echo) and so,' is a project that asks: "What aspects endure, what fragments linger, and what ultimately fades into oblivion?" And then, it disappears. What remains are fragments, archived portions, and the promise of future projects that will once again usher us into the universe of (echo) and so,.
As longstanding collaborators, Maxi Glenn and Laila Rosen continue to seek new avenues for expanding their creative processes, with hopes of evolving (echo) and so, into an ongoing series. Part of Daniel Neumann's CT: SwaM series, Plasticity Office is an initiative celebrating a decade of Fridman Gallery, showcasing contemporary sound works and music. CT:SwaM will host performances at Fridman Gallery throughout the remainder of August.
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Shaniqwa Jarvis Meditates on Self and Place
“I intentionally worked towards showing this side of me,” Jarvis says over our midday Zoom call from her Los Angeles home. “I want to touch on being new to my space, and also reflecting on what home is. I remember when I was younger, like in high school, I was watching this PBS documentary about what your home says about you. There was some quote, ‘when you look outside, your surroundings will inspire you and will create who you are going to be.’” For her at the time, that meant tapping into the life transitions at play around her, from growing older to settling into a new home in Northeast Los Angeles.
Jarvis is known for her capability of creating portraits that are captivating and emotional. She is most likely the lens behind some of your favorite recent magazine covers, former President Barack Obama for InStyle; Black Panther’s Letitia Wright, Danai Gurira and Lupita Nyong’o for Elle; and Pusha T for our very own last summer.
The exhibition opened at the end of last month, studying the interplay of light and shadows while capturing the emotional portraits of the everyday mundane motifs of California cast under gloomy melancholy weather: vintage cars, fenced-off community pools, neighborhood flowers, and concrete underpasses. For Jarvis, walking around these Los Angeles neighborhoods practicing breathwork and having the space to connect back to herself after intensive periods of working was transformative. This intimate body of work embraces the discomfort of tuning inwards, acknowledging it as a stepping stone to understanding our sense of place and what might be confining us.
Jarvis dances between coexisting as both the photographer and subject, with the roles serving as a reflection of each other. The space in itself showcases an extensive self-portrait––collages of a young Jarvis, photos of present-day flowers held in her hand, and the visual diary of the landscape that is home to her.
Jarvis explains, “It's just not me, but it's how I feel and how I see myself; how I see myself today; and how I saw myself two days ago. It's all very much an extension of myself.”
Everywhere You Go There You Are brings together photography alongside collages and painted textiles. No stranger to these mediums, Jarvis worked with printing photographs on varying fabrics for around the last six years. She approaches this task with curiosity and openness to dig further. Jarvis explains, “I just was like okay, it's time to combine all of the Shaniqwa into one. This was the first exploration of that. So this is the first time I've done a collage in this way. It’s the first time that I've done painting on textiles that I've made.” The multi-faceted artist worked with her friend, Paige Cleaveland of Rule of Three Studio to bring these textile ideas to life, leaning onto themes mentioned earlier like transitioning into a new place and connecting back to her younger self.
Accompanying the various landscapes are collages with portraits of a younger Jarvis and photos she’s taken back then, placed in the center wall of the gallery like an altar, honoring the innocence of youth and how that inner child still exists today. Jarvis reflects, “When I started working on the show, I was like, ‘Oh wait, like, here are some things that I did, like photographs I took when I was younger. And look, I'm still taking those same things now.’ And that kind of led into the title of the show, no matter where you go there you are, because it's true.”
Our conversation always found its back to the idea of honoring––honoring the ancestors who came before her and paved this path for her, honoring younger Jarvis and how she is still connected to her today, and especially honoring the local community around her in a manner that was “real and authentic.” With her first solo show debuting in Los Angeles, the artist emphasized the intent to work with as many creatives in LA in the process. From working with Blossom Liu on designing the cover of the limited edition 52-page catalog zine to pair with the exhibition and printing it locally to creating a merchandise long-sleeve tee with Los Angeles-born apparel brand, SUPERVSN.
Everywhere You Go There You Are is on display at CONTROL Gallery from July 29, 2023 - August 26, 2023, located at 434 N La Brea Ave, Los Angeles.
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The Tender Gaze of British Youth: Alasdair McLellan
Designed by M/M (Paris), the book encompasses work made by McLellan between 1987 and 2022, becoming his most personal and autobiographical to date, presenting over 500 images from his vast archive that comprise the potency and raw ingenuity of his early years. However, McLellan is no novice to literature: throughout his career, he’s published a wealth of revered monographs including Ultimate Clothing Company (2013), Ceremony, (2016), The Palace (2017) and Blondey 15-21, (2019). Yet, the pièce de resistance can be considered his newest proposal, made of sensational insights that span from hedonism to intimacy. A poignant, frivolous feel runs through the oeuvre and shows a comprehensive summary of McLellan’s creative evolution. Below, office caught up with McLellan to unfold references, practicalities and the importance of storytelling.
On inspirations
“There is a lot out there in the world that I find inspiring. It can be a person or a place or a film or a feeling. With regards to the Home and Away 1987-2022 books, most of the ideas and inspiration came from me looking back at the photos I took when I got my first camera at the age of 13. The idea of the simplicity of that time.”
On references
“I constantly reference my memories from the past or experiences I had growing up. I like the idea of images feeling personal, even if the image I’m creating is for a more commercial project. It's important to put yourself in as much of the image as possible.”
On practicalities
“I suppose you have to be prepared for every eventuality. Growing up and also working a lot in the UK and particularly because I work on location a lot, the weather is never going to do what you want it to do, so you need to be ready to work out a different plan if you don’t get the weather you expected.”
On the work process
“There is a lot to say about the work process, but my favorite part of the process is when I first get the contact sheets back. I still shoot film so it’s a bit like getting your holiday photos back from the local film developers. It’s a mix of nerves and excitement. It's also great to see mistakes. Something you didn’t think would work. I still believe in an element of surprise.”
On the power of Storytelling
“I always try to create some sort of narrative in the images I make. Not that I ever wanted to create something so rigid as a storyline. I never wanted to make photo casebook stories like you used to see in mags growing up; more of a series of images that can create some sort of atmosphere or vague narrative so the viewer can question what’s going on in the images, like the relationships and so forth. I also think it's important to create a world as a photographer. It's why I constantly go back to the pictures I took as a teenager. Partly because I think it's important to keep some sort of consistency to the world I created. I still find those images inspiring. It's what Home and Away 1987-2022 is about really.”
