keys / clefs
Work ID: 52683
Description: From the series, Jim →. Through a series of 98 paired photographs, Paul Collins and John Armstrong set out to explore the blurred edges of North American and European culture, of the familiar and the exotic, of our shared and individual experiences. The title of our project is Jim → (pronounced in a bilingual, "Jim, that way, par là"). This references the graffiti scratched into the gravestones of Père-Lachaise cemetery in Paris, pointing the way to Jim Morrison's tomb.
Armstrong and Collins initially drew up a list of 49 words to serve as the 49 subjects of a series of photographs. Armstrong would shoot in Canada, and Collins in France, where he has been living these past 20 years. The resulting images were brought together, presenting two points of view of the same subject.
Some of the subjects relate to motifs in our individual art practices; some are shared banalities and enthusiasms; others are figures that populate the professional life of an artist. The paired images playfully act as indicators of a specific moment or place. The viewer is naturally drawn into a guessing game, trying to identify the settings or locations pictured: Canada or France? Paris or Toronto? John or Paul?
Des mesures : 124.46 prints/épreuves : 27.94 x 35.56 cm
Collection:
Date de réalisation : 2002
Matériaux : selenium-toned gelatin silver print
Collection virtuelle : Original CCCA
