Last night I went to the Shemer Art Center and Museum to see the opening of Black box White Noise: Exploring New Media. I love the venue, an older home in a historical district of Phoenix. In each room and one or two artists displayed their work, and in the center courtyard was live music.
I was there by invitation of Becky Ross who taught has taught at SCC throughout the years. She is a great photographer. In her last few shows she has been exploring her childhood home, her family land, and her parents transitioning to a new location. In her new work she combines color photography and displays them with objects found on the property. There was a recording of the birds from her home, but unfortunately with all people and the music in the courtyard couldn’t be heard. I will have to visit again in the daytime to listen to the birds of this landscape. I was especially drawn to one piece that had a glass jar on a rope hanging from a pulley. In this jar was an old family photograph. The light on the jar also then created a beautiful reflection on the wall behind it.
I am drawn to old things, things that carry history, of another time, or place. I don’t actually have lots of antiques in my home, I don’t search them out but when something used, thrown away, or discarded falls into my lap I look at the warn edges and wonder about the objects history, how this thing was loved and used, and who had lost it.