stuff i see

vapor trails

http://DouglasStoveken.com/ 

Going through some older stuff I never put anywhere.  I shot this awhile ago.  And either the lab I got this roll developed at is really bad or my camera really needs to be looked at, because the negative was scanned with tons of dust and crap over it. 

Part of the reason I never posted this anywhere was because I was still editing it.  It takes forever to get the dust off in photoshop. 

I just resized this much smaller so I could do some quick dust edits.

PS:  Two cop cars stopped while I was taking this and questioned me for 5-10 mins.

I shot a series in b+w about 5-6 years ago.  It was candy shot on a mirror.  I lost the prints somehow.  But I still have the negatives.  I should probably rescan them once I make room for my film scanner (the scanner is about the size of your average late 1990s computer tower if it was laying flat.  It also weighs about 40 lbs)

I want the Winter.

Part of the “Return – ‘Home’ After 9-11” project

Artist Statement

For many Americans, the 10th anniversary of 9-11 is something they may wish to by-pass completely. Revisiting one of the most tragic events in our history as a country has the power to drain all emotion out of us and bring back memories that we try to not think about.

My GlassBook consists of four glass squares with QR codes etched into them. They are encoded text messages that were sent on September 11th. The messages are of people trying to reach out to loved ones that they fear they might never speak with again. The casual nature of text messages creates in an unexpected medium for last words.

My project is about extracting bits of that day: a message, a memory, an intangible, and make them into a physical object in hopes to purge the pain that they bring. Instead of erasing these memories, I want to memorialize them. In a sense, I’m crystallizing an otherwise ephemeral and untouchable form.

The anonymity of the QR codes helps to get away from glorifying these experiences and instead brings them into abstraction.

Artist Statement

120mph: Thrill Seeking After Combat

During our talk with the veterans, I felt the strongest connection with one soldier who had an unusual sleeping habit. He spoke about how transitioning back into civilian life hasn’t been easy, particularly about how he would sleep with a combat knife under his pillow. The constant readiness of being at war stayed with him. He finds comfort in knowing he has some protection with him as he sleeps. In a way, the knife has become his security blanket; one that he fears he might use to injure a loved one if he’s startled at night.

My project revolves around making the knife a comforting object. Using softer colors and other playful toys like tiny grenades and hearts, I want to bring out a bit of playfulness to two otherwise destructive objects.

The objects are suspended with a baby’s mobile, getting further away from the weapons being read as dangerous. With this, I underline the comfort they can bring to soldiers returning from a world so completely removed from our own.

lens got foggy.