autotopia
In autotopia, the overcrowded roadways act as metaphors for the psyche of the modern western world. Each panoramic photograph depicts a social landscape that emphasizes the freedom that is thought to come with the advantage of owning a vehicle. The chaotic movement captured within each print also addresses issues of urbanization, the complexity of city life and the endless movement of life while seated behind the steering wheel.
Although a predominant presence within society, the banality of the automobile makes it’s overwhelming impact almost invisible, as roadways exist as non-places within our own subconscious, ultimately blending into the habitual landscape. Through my work this covertness becomes visible. The images are intended to challenge the aspects of linear time and perception, revealing a condensed “hyperreality” that exists somewhere between fabrication and reality.
Similarly to Oscar Rejlander’s combination printing, I am approaching the subject of the automobile through the use of photomontage by using multiple photographic images that are seamlessly merged into one compressed state of time and place. Through this exaggerated narrative of roadways, I seek to engender in my viewers a similar angst to my own feelings about the automobile and its place in our urban and rural landscape. The viewers may be able to relate more closely their own personal experiences and feelings of being on a similarly chaotic roadway.
Although a predominant presence within society, the banality of the automobile makes it’s overwhelming impact almost invisible, as roadways exist as non-places within our own subconscious, ultimately blending into the habitual landscape. Through my work this covertness becomes visible. The images are intended to challenge the aspects of linear time and perception, revealing a condensed “hyperreality” that exists somewhere between fabrication and reality.
Similarly to Oscar Rejlander’s combination printing, I am approaching the subject of the automobile through the use of photomontage by using multiple photographic images that are seamlessly merged into one compressed state of time and place. Through this exaggerated narrative of roadways, I seek to engender in my viewers a similar angst to my own feelings about the automobile and its place in our urban and rural landscape. The viewers may be able to relate more closely their own personal experiences and feelings of being on a similarly chaotic roadway.
540 Seconds (2011) 3' X 8'
720 Seconds (2011) 3' X 8'
600 Seconds (2011) 3' X 8'
2,400 Seconds (2011) 3' X 8'
840 Seconds (2012) 3' X 8'
1,860 Seconds (2012) 3' X 8'
1,260 Seconds (2012) 3' X 8'
1,080 Seconds (2012) 3' X 8'
1,380 Seconds (2012) 3' X 8'
1,020 Seconds (2012) 3' X 8'