longmuir – fine art photography

On July 25th an afternoon was spent, with my friend Stephanie, at Storm King. Visiting by itself is an amazing inspiration; being surrounded by the massiveness of the art and the nature with which it coexists. The first day I ever visited I instantly became a member as one trip to the 500 acre sculptural space cannot be a one time event.

The afternoon included the opportunity to spend a couple of hours with twin brothers, Michael and Alan Fleming, who took a crowd of around 25 people/strangers on a performatory interaction around the land and two sculptures at Storm King, Adonai by Alexander Liberman and Shia Armajani's Gazebo for Two Anarchists: Gabriella Antolini and Alberto Antolini.

I was impressed by how easily the brothers helped complete strangers quickly participate together in overcoming what I imagine is the first stumbling block of any performance art...concern of perception. It began with the kind of exercises which put me in mind of the warm up exercises I did in my early days of acting at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. Loosening up of the body and then movement to help us be aware of ourselves, our surroundings, and the people around us. Working within a visually restricted space and following some simple rules allowed us to focus on rules of movement and not be concerned about the way others might perceive us.

The next step was to move around the Adonai and then in small groups of 5 or 6 use our bodies to emulate the sculpture itself. Being left on the outskirts of the groups with no strangers left to join up with, Stephanie and I enlisted the help of Alan and Michael to develop our human mimicry of the the rusted steel gas storage tanks.

To close the session we walked to the Gazebo, after having been first asked to walk in two lines and talk with the person immediately to our side. Hi to David. At the Gazebo, one of the few sculptures at Storm King where touching and walking on is permitted, our two groups then took the movement elements from the two earlier sessions and walked through the Gazebo from opposite sides. One group then took to the gazebo to perform a movement in, through and around the gazebo for the spectating second group and then we switched roles. A short round of questions concluded the session and it was nice to be able to walk away having participated, but not feeling the need to talk about what had happened in any deeper context.

What follows are my images of the other groups mimicry of Adonis. To capture that merging of people, space and sculpture together I felt that the longer exposure was an appropriate way to capture, not the moment of emulation, but the experience of time when both participating and watching.

The final image is one of my aviaries of, was it Michael, or Alan, I cannot tell, on the Gazebo.

Where to begin?

Paris, Texas - it captivated me as a teenager and introduced me to Ry Cooder's music. Wow.

Wings of Desire - how can a black and white modern movie about German angels observing people have held my fascination over the years? That scene in the library, where the subtle act of watching the collective mind of humanity humming along. Meditative. That desire and the colour of life is only available to humans. Intriguing. That even beings who observe the world in great detail will struggle at living within it.

And then, at the brilliant Strand Bookstore I came across Once, his travel/photo diary - not a typical collection of images about a travel through America that a regular visitor might take with their family and friends. Even if someone ripped out all the photos from the pages, photographers will benefit from this book just by reading his preface poem "TO SHOOT PICTURES..." which he ends by telling us a photobook can become a storybook, "if you just listen to your eyes."