Visiting Artist Lecture: Shimon Attie 11-11-09

I really do enjoy artist lectures here at VCU. I wish they could all be in a nice theater like the one in the student commons where technology worked amazingly and artist were entertaining, informative, and eye opening. Today, Shimon Attie was all of these things.

I wonder where Attie originally found his interest for history- particularly the history of people or, should I say, the people's history. Maybe he took some really great philosophy and social classes in high school or college. Either way, he uses a variety of mediums to reclaim the world's and people's buried histories through usually very hands on processes. I appreciate his means of gathering information and ultimately his photographic material: directly from the source. Whether his information is gathered from archives, interviews, or physically using history as a prop, he accurately merges the past with the present. His works are often emotional for those involved or who can relate and is not short of breathtaking for the rest of us. Also, his lighting is expressive and strong, bending to the needs of each project (you can see his photography background here).

Below is a clip from a documentary on his making of The Attraction of Onlookers.