BARBARA PROBST

Posted on 2016-01-18

Probst sets up multiple cameras and uses a radio-controlled shutter release in order to capture a single moment. In each of the new works, a central narrative is present but elusive and the purposeful actions in her earlier works give way to the introspection of a distracted camera. Not all of the cameras share the same interest and the images reveal an autonomous gaze.

In Exposure #115 and Exposure #116 some of the cameras are fixed on an interior space: a sleeping woman, cocooned by the city around her, a draped shawl, a figure gazing out onto the world, her lips gently parted as though she were about to speak out. Others aim towards the city rooftops, a looming tower under construction, and steam rising into a gray sky.

Observation takes on a new meaning as the pensive lens reveals a subjectivity, while seemingly pointed in no particular direction. In the impressive twelve-part Exposure #114, the focus is not solely on a seated model, but also the assemblage of photographic equipment and a green bottle atop a table. The stark angularity of tripods and synchronizing devices, the soft curves of the model’s body, and the gentle reflections in the green glass, are glimpses of a moment that asks to be stitched back together. All of the elements take on a fractured but cohesive personality and the viewer is called upon to imagine the connections and fill in the gaps. In fact, the viewer’s experience is even more essential to these new works as it occupies the same space as the subjective camera. As in film, the camera shows us a distinct point of view through which we try to understand a multifaceted scene.

Opposite – Exposure #116: N.Y.C., 428 Broome Street, 04.10.15, 1:11 p.m., 2015

Exhibition runs through till February 20th, 2016

Murray Guy
453 West 17th Street
New York
10011

murrayguy.comr

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