2025 SPE Annual Conference: Adaptations
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print this pagePlaces, Spaces, and the In-Between.
Imagemaker: Allen Morris
Sunday, September 15 - 11:00AM to 11:45AM
ELIF 305
Humans are particularly tribal human beings. The drive to differentiate ourselves from those who are not "us" is inherent in our DNA. What was once a method with which to keep ourselves and our progeny alive has devolved into something of a social catastrophe over the course of humanity. We see the signs of it all around, particularly in light of the 24-hour news cycle and thanks to the proliferation of information (whether true or not) that can be found with a few taps of the keyboard. The photographic investigations that I will discuss focus on the concepts at the heart of this conundrum, the ideas of space, place, and how we form our identities as humans, as cultures, through our relationships with notions. There's a lot of instability right now; as a country, we are politically confused, as Americans we are socially unstable, and as humans, we have zero idea what to do about our climate. These moments of instability are the focus of my body of work titled "ISO." In this work I utilize the landscape to explore the ideas of history, security, identity and Place in both geographical and psychological terms. As humans, I believe this drive to meld with not only the human population that surrounds us but also the landscape that we find ourselves existing within, provides a sense of stability and security in the face of uncertainty and chaos.
Next, I would like to discuss a body of work that I have titled "Keepin' It" that examines the idea of the most intimate Place that we, as humans, connect to – Home. These photographs are representations of a nostalgic reckoning, a certain coming to terms with the fact that time continues to trudge forward and those places that we once considered so important and influential in the creation of ourselves evolve and change in the same way that we do as individuals. The photographs of "Keepin' It" are mined from my personal archive, captured in the place that I once considered to be the nexus of my life, one that I no longer live in, and the yearning to return to that anchor point for myself as an artist, a human, and a member of the LGBTQ community.
I will conclude with examples from an ongoing body of photographs and alternative photographic process objects that focus on the places that divide us as humans and specifically Americans, "Domestic Borders." While so much attention is currently focused on the domestic borders that surround the country – thick lines that separate the United States from Canada and Mexico. My interest lies in the landscape contained by the thin lines that separate states from one another. Lines that, while seemingly benign in our traversing of the country on the great American road trip, become immensely important in the social arena and on the political stage every four years.
speaker
Allen Morris
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