Olympics

From my previous post, a year ago I wrote: "I keep making them, boxing them, and making still more.  This might be as good venue as any" to show the photographs I have made.

In the spirit of Sochi Games, that opened yesterday, and echoing themes that have been present in my art for some time I will add this small contribution to the discourse of Olympics as a representation of hubris. 

Montreal had their Olympics in 1976.  I stumbled on these structures while biking through the city.  Olympics come with the promise of growth and are sold as a means to promote wealth and national pride.  Russia and Brazil are having discussions in the same way as Vancouver and Montreal did about the relative worth of the Games in comparison to social spending and the development of human capital. These photographs can serve as a visualization of the long term benefits of a games for a city.

The pictures were acquired by jumping a fence with my Pentax 67 slung around my neck.  Artistically, it was the perfect site drawn as I am to the aesthetics of decay.  In this sense the remnants of the glory of an Olympic spectacle were both philosophically and artistically a fascinating prospect.  The pictures were printed when I returned to Victoria. The anachronism of black and white film photography seemed particularly appropriate to this subject in a digital age particularly when coupled with a large etching that ensued from the photographic project.  

Photographs all "11x14" titled respectively "Olymics #1,2,3, and 4"

Etching " Olympics (Montreal)" 18x24"