Appropriating The Lens
by Khrist Dan
“I wanted to create a sense of naivity, like a child’s drawing. Something elementary, impertinent, which challenges the paradigm of traditional artistic merit whilst paradoxically bringing the work and the viewer together, as both are forced into the conceptual sphere to rediscover their worth.”
Appropriating The Lens is conceived as a series of photographs of Khrist’s partner, Raj. Although Raj is herself an accomplished art photographer, Khrist presents candid and opportunistic images of the photographer taking casual photos on her iPhone, often shot without her awareness. This subversion is simultaneously liberating and undermining, raising questions of meritocracy and egalitarianism, and of what constitutes art.
The ubiquitous necessity of the oblique shot angle leads to the viewer being consistently denied the opportunity to see Raj face-on. This gives her an enigmatic energy, simultaneously acting as both model and muse. The settings and sense of happiness in the images create a warm, familial feel, whilst also asserting the role of the spontaneous and of the aleatory in photographic art.
“There is a clear reference to the ideals of late-postmodernist art philosophy running through the work, adding a further dimension of pertinence and immediacy.”
Appropriating The Lens touches on many social issues. By forcing artist into the role of subject, unplanned and unprepared, Khrist removes both anonymity and identity, whilst the surreptitious nature of the work creates a sense of eavesdropping and infiltration, of shots quickly stolen rather than taken. In this way, Khrist raises powerful questions around consent, socophilia, and perceptions around the role of women in art.
“Ultimately, the viewer will either reject the challenge, or wrestle with the issues raised and come to harmony in the realisation that the artwork occurs not within the frame, but within themselves.”
Tickets
Appropriating The Lens will open for public viewing in summer 2023. Media appointments will be available up to 3 weeks before the private view and show opening. For more information please email gallery@kunsthaus.gallery.
Berliner Kunsthaus
5 Kuchenstrasse
Berlin 59447
+49 173 8193053
gallery@kunsthaus.gallery