Alex
Witteman

Something Better

This series consists of four different images of me in the Midwestern landscape which are manipulated through photogram-like methods. Two of these photogram-print hybrids use found agricultural objects and enlargements of myself in the Midwestern landscape. Two more prints use similar images, but utilize a drafted patterning over the top of the image. The blurriness provided by the tracing paper in the drafted images creates a sense of confusion and unbelonging. The usage of found barbed wire and tool handles suggests the want for betterment in Midwestern society, but points to how inhabitants here isolate themselves from others.
In "Standing in an Empty Field" the usage of the tool handles shows the death of handheld labor in favor of automation and an increasing reliance on heavy agricultural equipment, creating isolation. "Lying in a Ditch" shows fracture and un-unity in the composition being literally blocked off by barbed wire. "Around the Bend" and "Power Lines" use the ambiguity created in the images to create confusion and a sense of mysticism and awe. As a whole, these pieces examine the human's place within the Midwest landscape, our connection to this place and examine cultural shifts of priorities over time.