2026 SPE Annual Conference: Catalyst for Exchange
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print this pageFresh Donor
Christopher Velasco
Friday, November 07 - 11:20AM to 11:40AM
Project Statement: Fresh Donor Fresh Donor explores the intersection of photographic and painterly techniques through the manipulation of Polaroid instant film. I treat the Polaroid as a physical object that captures memory in real time and then deconstruct it using methods inspired by medical procedures—cutting, injecting, burning, and cauterizing—to accelerate its deterioration. These gestures transform the image into a site of both representation and abstraction, a contemporary memento mori. Unlike traditional analog photography, which requires a slow and deliberate process of exposure and chemical development, the Polaroid offers immediacy, instantly producing a relic contained within its iconic white frame. This speed mirrors the fleeting nature of memory and loss. Through controlled actions, I perform surgical interventions on the reverse side of the film, injecting bleach, paint, and water without altering the front-facing image. These acts become both destructive and cathartic. The work functions on two levels: as a personal purge of past trauma and as an obsessive pursuit of the "perfect" image. Each altered Polaroid becomes a symbol of transformation, the death of a former self, and the possibility of rebirth through material experimentation. The resulting photographs are not preserved but reanimated, echoing the themes of grotesque resurrection found in the cult horror film Re-Animator. Like the film's protagonist, I dissect and revive, exposing the internal chemistry of the image while preserving its external structure. Fresh Donor embraces the natural decay of instant film and pushes it further, creating photographic remains that challenge the viewer to consider what is lost, what can be remade, and what lives on through the act of remembrance.
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Christopher Velasco
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