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Imants Krumins – Bum not as in Person. Mute
So here it is a thing just like the landscapes and stone walls I build ……..
some stuff that will change and disappear
Bio:
Born in the UK know nothing important about it, lived most of my life in Australia
Went to art school, failed at least once…… Sculpture major that’s what the piece of paper says
Exhibited on the Continent, The New World and The Old World ………. No awards prizes etc but I do have a pest control certificate
a troubled mind …with a troubled cure
Photographs: Imants Krumins
Websites: www.etrouko.com.au – www.imantskrumins.com
I keep trying to figure out something good I can say about this. I must be on the wrong web site.
JIM…
yes, you must be…
I’m just thinking of the discussion on Buzz of how far you should go with manipulation, and then this thing comes up. This is too far, unambiguously, to me.
Jim I use the same photographic tools as you, digital ,film amd digital software etc. I doubt this is about manipulation it’s about making stuff via photography
It is stuff, but I don’t think it’s photography. It would, though, be the perfect basis for a promo on the SyFy channel.
Imants,
i dont particular like this kind of pictures. but i am still looking at it. would have liked more to look at this in print, large, so i can nitpick and choose which quarter inch i need to look into another minute and the next.
just wondering? how long does it take you to do a poster?
Congratulations on being published here.
Is this photography?
Of course it is photography, I use light, a camera etc. There are about 30 images in the slide show.
Imants,
What’s troubling your mind?
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh weall have toubled minds when we kick our souls around our backyards
………….. have to teach for a few hours in a darkroom so my responses may be limited for a while but I will respond, but I see no need to justify………………. smile
I will post a link to the original imaes later
The original images are not what you have shown here. I don’t know what you are trying to prove with them. At some point there might have been photography, but, this isn’t it.
According to whom Jim?
If you use a camera and capture an image, ‘develop’ it in a darkroom or Photoshop is it still not photography? I am more curious as to what message or emotion is trying to be conveyed. If there is no coherent subtext then it becomes post-modern art where everything is acceptable in its own relative place. I am leaning toward liking it and the multi-media aspect I think is where the medium of photography is headed especially on the web (a la Burn). Interesting, thought provoking, would like to hear what motivated the artist/photographer. No need to justify, would just like to know where this came from and where it is going.
Imants, according to the observer. Unless you are satisfied to talk to yourself.
Who asked you to justify?
“This is not Photography”
A very strange way of saying, I don’t understand these images.
It’s always interesting seeing how Xenophobia manifests its self.
On any measure this is photography. You don’t have to like, or truly understand every member of your family, but at the end of the day there is no denying the fact.
These are layered, dense images infused with the authors intent.
Is’t that what we are all chasing?
I’ll repeat my usual rant. If photography is anything the “artist” wants it to be, it becomes irrelevant.
“To make people free is the aim of art, therefore art for me is the science of freedom.” –Joseph Beuys
“I can’t understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I’m frightened of the old ones…I have nothing to say, I am saying it, and that is poetry.”–John Cage
“Remember the clear light, the pure clear white light from which everything in the universe comes, to which everything in the universe returns; the original nature of your own mind. The natural state of the universe unmanifest… Let go into the clear light, trust it, merge with it. It is your own true nature, it is home.”– Tibetan Book of the Dead
“Own only what you can always carry with you; know languages, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag.”-Solzhenitsyn, “The Cancer Ward”
Photography is a scar….
let noone thing otherwise…..
we are left with scars, just as memory is a scar, and yet, foolish us, we thing of scars as somehow things which are ugly, which are things that should be hidden, things which we must cloak and cover and anestetize, and make soft and clean and gentle, and yet the scar are not ugly or horrid things, but we age and we grow and we disseminate and this that makes us US, the we of all things, the countenance of our age and beauty and life….age rings us, like a tree felled, we admire the lypses and ellipse of those rings on a tree, we know age through and by it’s time we place….
it is funny to me that we hide, so often, those things which tell of the life we have lived, the rings, the crows nest, the droopy skin, the freckles, the lives and people that have accumulated, and yet, though they abound in nature, we hide and cloak them when it is about our lives….
let me tell u a story….
how is it that you hope to express a memory, a moment, a lineage of time and people an story that have made up the story of your life….once, when i was a young man, i stood in front of a green chalk board and looked at the scribbling that Beuys left upon a chalk board, as story as testament to the time he spent in a cold and damp woods, lost and breathing….i touched that chalked and felt, for a moment, i felt his life….how is it to speak of that which passed by and through his life….passed by and through all of our lives….
vaniquishment, scars, joyeous detail….
i have waited 6 months for this story to be shared….
2 years ago, i showed Imants work, a friend who’ve i’ve known for 3 years, and watched as people sat before another of his esays…and i showed the work because, though this be his story, is there any other story but that, that we remember and hope, forlorn, to share with others…
i’ve given up almost all my hope for work here, for people to, without prejudice or judgment, simply swallow work that wishes to speak of that which disappears, not the world recorded as pretty, but the world as ache, the world as celebrant joy, the world that carries all that tatoos and accumulates….
how is it to speak, how is it to use this denutered language, as a way…..
photography is a means of expression, a language that bridges that which is bereft of words, a language by which you can opposite the scars, seen as viscious by most, not as sadness but as eulogy of joy and as eulogy of the living….
how is this different from Frank’s howl after the death of his daughter and son, how is this different from trying to capture the light and joy of that which passed before you….
to be open to all, to be open to that, not which you cannot have but try to carriage with pretty things, but that which encorcells, that which is but an attempt….an attempt to speak of that which is unspeakable, or is hope-for-speak, but goes past our in-nimble words….
all that matters is that we try, with awareness with recongition, with the joy, utter joy, of creation, to sing upon all that makes us the Who we are inside of that….
I asked Imants to submit his work and that at least it is here, and that, for me, is a blessing….
how is it that we can begin to speak of that which rings us, all that which makes us who we are, the scars which are not travesties, but glorious awakenings, breath-upon-breath, life-upon-life, death that has not dominion nor vanquishment, but glorious direction….
i am happy because in the light of creation, understood or not, comes joy….suffered joy, no doubt, but testament….
though we are mute, we rage against that in magical, alchemy and divination….
now, i can leave Burn in peace….
I am happy that a friend of mine has been been offered a chance to share a story, and this story, is a ring, and that ring is that same, that each of us knows, acknowledged or not, inside the swelling and expanding and evaporating of each of us…..
to hold a hare next to skin, to share our lineage, to make sense of the senselessness, to plant that which was planted inside us prior….
photography?….fuck photography….all we have is the alchemy of our lives and the awareness of how rich it breathes….
b
Imants,
That is wild. Intense. Dense. Meticulous. Not the standard display here, but that’s OK. I’ve seen your work before, and although I wouldn’t strive to make images along the same lines as you, I’d love to be able to have the same quality of work at the end of the day. This is really strong work. Really glad I got to see it here.
Bob…
You tend to take things very personally, don’t you?
Edgy, dark, original, densely-layered, symbolic collages that hint rather than explain, question rather than answer, create their own reality rather than reflect anyone elses. I am delighted to see this kind of work on Burn. This is the essence of creativity–to go places no one has gone before. BRAVO!!!
Patricia
Jeeeezus.
Don’t know what else to say. Watched it a few times now, same rapid-breathing tingly feeling – heh. Been a while since photography’s done that to me. That’s gotta be good, no?
loving the El Lissitzkyness and the Moholy-Nagyishness about them..but where’s the red :)
very mature work, smart thinking to have them evolve, tho I think stumbling on the piece in one of those little mystery rooms in a museum would be the best venue with surround sound and all.
Erica…
Evolve? Serious question. What evolved?
Michael K:
i’ve known Imants for 3 years…and if i ‘make things personal’ it is only because work that, at least for me (is it not for you?), that speaks universally feels the most personal??….
I am surprised at your reaction to me…
well, do we not, each of us, ‘personalize’ the best and most authentic and most ‘personal’ work??..
and work that speaks to us on a gut and human level, are we not supposed to react other than through our ‘personal
‘ reaction….
work that speaks to me, always feels as if the work is speaking directly to that which ignites my own life…
is this not the ‘miraculous’ in all that is best about life?….
how else should i react?….cold, didactic, impersonal….
and so (pick the photographer, pick the work, pick the picture) you’ve never felt, toward work that you like/respected felt:
‘that is the story that inhabits my life as well’ ??
only for Imants, for both his work and our friendship, that i wish to return to write…
but no more…
ok, i’ve said more than enough…
b
Michael..they all did, in this: progress, advance; mature, grow, expand, spread; alter, change, transform, adapt, metamorphose
This is the sequence of dreams…or nightmares…or simply, as the thoughts race across and into our minds only to board the fleet on the way out again. Dark to light or light to dark, the impending doom weighs itself against the thoughtfulness between the exchange of these moments. Overall, I view this very optimistically as it is a very creative endeavor. Layers or reflections, photoshop or darkroom manipulation aside, the creative spirit of this undertaking speaks volumes. I just feel that the abruptness of its conclusion was a bit premature…I feel that Imants had more to say or show, and my curiosity is certainly struck. Congratulations on your publication here, Imants. Your way of thinking has me intrigued.
Michael..to me it is sort of as if we are dealing with words that have different meanings when combined in certain ways..but that rely on our understanding of each reference..
I imagine Imants have two sets of words here.
He gives us ‘The bouncing red ball is a delight to small children.’ as well as ‘In the other room I can hear his crying.’ From there we get ‘Small red ball’ and ‘His other room’ and so on, ending up with ‘His delight is children.’
Does that make any sense?
I get excited by these sorts of images. I love the abstract. I love the sub conscious nature that they projoke.
Also, why should a photo essay, particularely here on BURN they we praise for being so gutsy, comment issue for example, only be one that gives an immediate resolution about what it is saying. MTV generation boring.
Love your work Imants. and hang it on my wall. so many ways to interpret i think is fantastic
What a shame this comment thread has become about the limitations of one viewers idea of what photography must be and not about what the photographer thinks the medium can/could be. Without being clear, and being left to use one’s imagination, one might come to some conclusion, right or wrong, about what one has seen here. It is challenging, no doubt. And isn’t that desirable in looking at art in any form – to be challenged?
Staying in the same place all the time, looking at the same views in the same way – in this way irrelevance becomes inevitable.
Very interesting work, Imants. Thank you for bringing it here. Keep pushing. My five year old daughter was looking over my shoulder this morning as I was watching this, riveted. When it ended, she looked at me and said, “This scares me.” What more could one ask for?
Always stupidly love your work, Imants. It’s all yours, though I do think of Joel-Peter Witkin when I look at it. I’m not comparing apples and oranges, I’m just saying your work makes me think of his. And I mean that in a good way. But you knew that.
Understanding something linearly doesn’t have to impinge on enjoying something laterally. I have viewed Imants’ website a few times in the past two years, and am overjoyed to see he has finally turned around his “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon” for the unconditioned public to view here on Burn.
Shouldn’t photographic technique evolve, and isn’t this what we are seeing here? That is, technical evolution of the medium, not just the style.
Even if you aren’t the type to play around in the Krumins sandbox, can’t you at least dip your toe in a bit? Don’t worry about understanding – just enjoy.
It is interesting to see an artist’s collective work as a lens to uncovering his character; subject matter tells a lot. Our interests define our style, and we are defined by our style. That is the pull of this essay.
i didn’t particularly like the images themselves, but i like the fact that they at least made me think something and stir up some emotions within. the presentation was strong, though not to my taste.
i think it’s great that Imants is doing his thing and sounding like he’s not giving a damn about what people think! i also think it was quite ballsy to put this piece up here too!
looking forward to having a peek at Imants’ website to see what else his mind has developed!
j.
The images are of a person down the street who I pass and chat to walking the dog, he lives in a half way house ……………poverty there is not about the bare physical necessities of life rather than the social poverty he finds himself in, something that our western societies specialise in. I am not sure if I would like to sit inside his head
Erica…
Respectfully, I think we see the world (and art) with significantly different eyes. ;^}
Well… Seeing Imants work on Burn is something special, on many levels. After this, all of you should go and click that SUPPORT BURN thing, top right corner.
I’ve seen his work many times before, but having this kind of work published here is a move to respect… for DAH. There is still hope…
Imants,
I wish I had a vertical screen to appreciate this even more.
Thanks for having a troubling (not troubled…) mind.
Imants,
This essay is very interesting and curious for me.
.. white memory…other dimension… external world….cold surgery…
Thank you for very interesting works.
dark..
questions…
self…
cold..
contact sheets…
digital…
imagery…
layer
upon
layer…
dimensions..
and
depth…
hauntingly
beautiful…
***
For those who can’t wrap their heads around this essay check out ONE EYE DREAMING in Imants portfolio.
Some very nice work there.
Back in the early day’s of DOS I suspect it would be quite difficult express emotions likes this save for Hollywood special effects. Now I see this kind of work at the beginning of exciting fantasy games where you need the best graphics card to make them work the best. It’s not by accident that this approach is used at the beginning of games as it immediately captures your imagination and pries it open: it’s good way to initiate exploration.
Personally, i love still images in multimedia presentations, I like how they stretch the paradox of information arrested in time, by offering it in a way that seems lucid and changing.
Is this the future, is this one of the most exciting ways to release still images now? i sort of think so.
i think presentations like this have always been appealing, but are pretty much impossible to do without looking cheep, cheesy, and amateurish. IMANTs is there a technology curve that’s happening right now that are allowing people to more easily make work like this happen? I appreciate you still have to have a stretched mind to conjure the vision, but is it becoming an easier to drag work like this out of your skull and onto a monitor?
Good stuff by the way.
I will hit the technology bit first, this is a simple Soundslides application converted into quicktime, nothing special there. The images could be created using film, the darkroom and a photocopier. I did most of it digitally as it is quicker and I can use the wwworld to show them. So nothing out of the ordinary there.
art is good. thank you imants.
If Imants creates these images from his hart, then yes, this is photography. But if these images are only manufactures then I am afraid that it isnt. In any case you know better Imants.
Imants,
This slideshow is so so refreshing! Even if it is so so dark! :) Excellent stuff! Congratulation!
Jim
I was sure you are not able to suprise me more, but You are and probably will for ever!! Soon you will say “the sun is not the sun because I say the sun is not the sun!”
Jim the Powerful
If for you this is not a photography please go to library, find a books with “history of photography” on title, maybe you will learn something about your own job or passion or hobby or whatever is for you photography.
Of course you can call in question whatever you want. But if you want be treat a little more serious please visit a library.
peace and love for the sun keepers.
The whole work stems from a phrase that we say everyday, “Ahh h I don’t know..” then the other person usually opens their mouth(mute) to respond ……. as for the rest blink and remember…………….
http://www.etrouko.com.au/imants.htm
Man Ray, Alexander Rodchenko, Joel-Peter Witkin… isn’t that photography?
Imants – congratulations for your troubling mind and sharp eye!
David – thank you for this one!!!
Many cheers to you all,
Armando
Imants – walking the dog? down the street? man, are you deep or you troubled? or deeply troubled? what’s your day job? Are you trying to fool people with perfect arrangements into thinking that this is the NEXT BIG THING(TM) or this releases your innards and has self-therapeutic powers ?
I do not like this work. This is Psychotic. You must be tripolar.
All with love and honesty.
I have watched it three times. In a loop. It’s very deep and it’s scary, gloomy and… refreshing. I like it a lot. Not sure what it is, but I won’t even try to judge this presentation – why should I? It moves me. A lot. That is what matters to me.