July Issue 2001
DownTownes in Greenville, SC, Offers Works by Jennifer Laffoon
DownTownes in Greenville, SC, will be hosting an exhibition by Jennifer Laffoon titled Motel Series. The exhibit will be on view July 19 through Aug. 30.
Using the motel as a stage, Laffoon creates a world somewhere between reality and fiction to tell stories about herself and others. Laffoon is a professor in the Media Arts Department at the University of South Carolina.
Of her work Laffoon says, "I have this need to tell stories.. .well, more like allude to stories about my self and those of others. These stories, or tableaux, allow for a disjointed, imagined narrative the viewer can control. I create a world that exists somewhere between reality and fiction. A world that plays to the set standard of how men and women are supposed to be and a world trying to contradict these standards. The work questions and searches for the self within the realm of sexuality, patriarchy, and the preconscious."
She continues, "The motel is used as the
"state" for the scenes to unfold. These spaces provide
the tawdry environment which is needed to convey an essence for
base sexual desire and repulsion. An environment which gives license
for the dark realms of the preconscious to unfold, a place where
men and women are portrayed through a misogynistic lens. But within
the ambiguity of the images and their placement to one another,
this lens is scrutinized and questioned."
Laffoon uses a plastic camera, pinhole 4 x 5 camera, and 35mm
camera to capture her images. Her surreal colors are the result
of a technique called "crossprocessing" - shooting transparency
film and processing it like color negative film.
For further information check our SC Commercial Gallery listings
or call the gallery at 864/232-4403.
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