It is literally almost Friday in this late edition of the Fix. This week we have two artists who shift their unique vision on the lens of a camera, graphic designers who are naive at best, and a documentary about the capitalist vultures around Coney Island. Something to mull over during Labor Day weekend.
Elyveth: Guess what people? Graphic designers, Kenji Nakayama and Christopher Hope have finally figured out the solution to homelessness, and it isn’t food, water, shelter or even healthcare. No, it’s snazzy typographic signs – obviously that was sarcasm. While I believe that art plays a huge role in bringing awareness to social injustices, this is just plain ignorant and exploitative. Instead, how about they do some actual research and bring awareness to the class system that causes homelessness in the first place?
Mike: Pete Eckert captures ghostly images and physical resonances that seem to spring from his mind’s eye alone. Pete Eckert is blind. Twenty-seven years ago he was diagnosed with a degenerative eye disease that would strip him of his eyesight. At the same time he discovered his mother’s old camera and developed a love of photography. Now “profoundly” blind, Pete’s work continues, taking on an ethereal qualities that might only exist in the shadows behind one’s own mind.
Raul: Edward Burtynsky is a photographer specializing in capturing large-scale images of industrialism and the, sometimes frightening, effect it has on the land. Despite the sense of urgency it might inspire in some who view his work, there is still a sort of beauty to be found in the wonderment of humankind’s technological domination over nature, and Burtynsky captures this perfectly. Nevertheless, while this awe might arise out of the sort of initial disbelief one might have when looking at his work, the reality is that these are not images of some fictional civilization, but our own grand-scale efforts at engineering our own demise through mass consumption and overproduction.
Beatriz: The process of gentrification is interesting. The owner of the Zipper ride in this documentary is of the poor and working class that is usually displaced by developers looking to profit from the luxurious fantasies the upper-middle class buys into. The carnival feel is most aesthetically appealing; it humanizes the displacement with funky combos of colorful scenery and grim dialogue. Also while searching on their site, I found this video explaining how developers can buy their way out of having to provide affordable housing in the purchased land and alternatively build expensive condominiums for the upper middle class. It’s also very interesting.
Strike Magazine 