‘I Never Think of Photography as Recording Life’: Watch Artist Barbara Kasten Blend Pictures Into Mind-Bending Constructivist Compositions

What is a photograph, really? Is it simply an image on a
two-dimensional surface? What if it could be more?

These are some of the questions the Chicago-born
artist Barbara Kasten
seeks to pose and answer in her
complex photographic works, which straddle printmaking, sculpture,
and textile combinations. 

Kasten’s first exposure to art was through a nun at her Catholic
school, who introduced Kasten to works at the Art Institute of
Chicago. Those experiences set her on a path to pursue a formal
education studying painting and sculpture, before developing an
interest in photography.

“It just seemed to be part of my DNA” she says while laughing in
an interview with Art21 as part of the PBS
series “Art in the Twenty-First Century.”

A stint living in Germany studying Bauhaus philosophies inspired
Kasten to incorporate certain forms of geometric abstraction into
her work, which often resembles the photograms of László
Moholy-Nagy and other Constructivists.

To create her elaborate photographs and videos, Kasten creates
scenes in her studio using props, theatrical lighting, mirrors, and
other objects that are manipulated through her lens.

“I always think of myself as actually photographing the shadows,
not the light. I never think of photography as recording life in
general,” she tells Art21, adding: “it was an
experimental medium.”

The optical illusions that result are destabilizing and often
challenging in the way they contend with space, light, and
objecthood.

This summer, the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg is staging the largest
solo show of Kasten’s work in Europe, with a survey of her
decades-long career, spanning her first forays into the medium, as
well as her early sculptures and most recent work in video.

Watch the video, which originally appeared as part
of Art21’s PBS series Art in the Twenty-First Century, below.
“Barbara Kasten: Works” is expected on view this
summer at Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg; more information is
available on the museum’s website. 

This is an installment of “Art on Video,” a collaboration
between Artnet News and Art21 that brings you clips of newsmaking
artists. A new series of the nonprofit Art21’s flagship series Art
in the Twenty-First Century is available now on PBS. Catch episodes
of other series like “New York Close Up” and “Extended Play” and
learn about the organization’s educational programs
at Art21.org.

The post ‘I Never Think of Photography as Recording Life’:
Watch Artist Barbara Kasten Blend Pictures Into Mind-Bending
Constructivist Compositions appeared first on artnet
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