Big Bang, Big Bucks: The burning work of Geoffrey H. Short
Sunday, January 30th, 2011 | Author: Sojournposse EditorBy Zarina Holmes
‘Big Bang, Big Bucks’ at Diemar/Noble Photography Gallery is a thought-provoking study on two powerful objects – money and fire explosions – which are possibly the most demonised and misunderstood forces in modern human history.
Photos © Geoffrey H. Short & Nikolai Ishchuk.
‘Big Bang, Big Bucks‘ is the latest exhibition curated by Michael Diemar and Laura Noble, which is showing from 14th Jan until 12th March, 2011 at the Diemar/Noble Photography Gallery in London.
The show is divided in two parts: ‘Big Bang’ is a series of fire explosions titled ‘towards another (big bang) theory’ by photographer Geoffrey H. Short, while ‘Big Bucks’ is a study on money by Nikolai Ishchuk.
Short, flown in from hometown Auckland, New Zealand, to present his work which was nominated for the Lacoste Elysée Prize 2010.
'Big Bang' series by Geoffrey H. Short at Diemar Noble Gallery
‘Big Bang‘ explores our innate awe and terror of the forces that we perceive as supernatural and beyond our control, thus elevated to become “sublime”.
Short explained: “There is an element of metaphysical about them [fire explosions]. Things beyond [our] understanding.”
“Anything that can kill you can be fascinating.”
He was referring to Edmund Burke’s philosophy which defines the sublime as ‘what has the power to compel and destroy us’.
Geoffrey H. Short with his explosive work
The series were shot near Auckland city in a period of over two years, involving a team of explosive technicians.
‘Big Bang‘ images are presented in huge format so the viewer can see more details as they get closer to the photographs.
Like gazing at the clouds in the sky, the explosions become unidentifiable shapes that invite us to “see” imaginary objects.
Some of them resemble pleasant heart shape and inferno bouquet, while others remind us of hell scenes and folding horror skies often depicted in classical paintings.
There is a strong painterly feel to Short’s work that echoes influences from the Romantic works of J.W.Turner and Caspar David Friedrich, and Pop Art’s Roy Lichtenstein.
An inspiration: 'Wanderer above the sea fog' by Caspar David Friedrich (1818). © Kunsthalle Hamburg
“These violent delights have violent ends
And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,
Which as they kiss consume.”
(William Shakespeare. “Romeo and Juliet”, 2.3)
Diemar/Noble Photography Gallery will be holding the ‘Collecting Photography & The Photography Market‘ seminar on 12 February 2011.
Thanks for the review Zarina. I especially love the Shakespeare quote. And here is a bonus Edmund Burke quote :
“The passion caused by the great and sublime in nature… is Astonishment; and astonishment is that state of the soul in which all motions are suspended, with some degree of horror.”
cheers,
GHS.
We truly enjoy your presentation and explaining the concept of the Sublime through your work. It is an important element in storytelling – in both visual and written words.
Hello there! Thanks for posting the review. Just wanted to let you know that I will be speaking about my work at Diemar/Noble on Tuesday, March 1, at 6:30p.m. Please do come!
Oh, and I do have a website (www.therealimage.eu) – albeit a very basic one – so hopefully you can hyperlink my name too now
Hi Nikolai, sounds cool. Will definitely let our readers know.