Published 20:24, May the 14th, 2008
This planet may soon crash
And if it does, new exhibit at Mass. Art will serve as the ‘Black Box’
INTERVIEW. While it might seem that photographer Annie Claflin is documenting the erosion of the shore-line near her family home to show people the error of their ways, part of the reason that she put together her “Maine” series is so she can remember. “Memory is not material,” says the artist, “It fades over time. Art is only an attempt to make concrete what is otherwise elusive.”
Claflin’s selections can be seen in a new multi-artist exhibit called “Stories in a Black Box.” Her works also include a video entitled “Endangered Land.” We sense a theme.
Your pictures are about the disappearance of the landscape into the sea. Do you think that art could ever be an acceptable replacement for the real thing?
The process of capturing a place that changes yearly has created a meaning beyond the place itself. The images not only illustrate the physical world, but create an alternate world as well. But nothing will ever measure up to the experience of being in that landscape in Maine.
Do you think there is a difference in the ways photos immortalize a place, as opposed to how they work on people?
Landscapes don’t care how they look or who their company is, or what’s happening in five minutes. My guess is that a good portrait that immortalizes someone deceased has more meaning for the general population than a good landscape immortalizing a place that is no longer.
Explain “Sunset Dune” (shown left). It seems to be a stark demarcation of a line between growth and decay. Does that sound too out there?
I think it’s right on. ... This place in Maine is beautiful and I want to show some of the beauty amidst the decay. And definitely, I’m showing the tension between life and death of the place. I chose to shoot that image because of the exposed roots at the end of the dune. They illustrate the impending danger to this landscape. ... My father actually planted the dune grass 35 years ago. The grass has spread rapidly but the water is overpoweringly close to the land. During storms, the waves crash over the dune. The plant is meant to control erosion to some extent, but after 35 years, the dunes are losing the match to the ocean.
‘Stories in a Black Box’
Opening reception tonight, 7
Exhibit through May 30
Brant Gallery at Mass. Art
621 Huntington Ave., Boston
MBTA: Green E Line to Longwood
617-879-7333
www.massart.edu