Reciprocity of Light, 2010

Brandon Lattu’s installations do not give obvious answers. They rather make a statement through more ambiguous gestures, at least on first impressions. Based in Los Angeles, Lattu is an artist with multiple practices including a sculpture that was created from time-based photographic operations, which resulted in an abstraction of physical form. Lattu’s perspective allows us to investigate and pry into our surroundings and current events and is provocative yet slightly understated. I recently saw his solo exhibition “Reciprocity of Light” at Leo Koenig, and was especially drawn to the minimal aesthetics of the “Random Compositions“.  After our brief chat over the telephone and the following answers, I got a better perception of the artist’s theoretical practice. I highly recommend experiencing the unique installation Reciprocity of Light while it is still up.

Seven Projections, 2010

Your work seems to pay a huge tribute to William Fox Talbot, one of the founding fathers of photography. Although Talbot dealt with analog imagery, you both use time-based elements as a tool in your work. Can you simply describe how Talbot’s work has been an influence to your latest piece “Reciprocity of Light“?
I think that you are referring to the temporal characteristic of Talbot’s work, which doesn’t relate very much to how I make work currently.  But the central piece in the exhibition, Reciprocity of Light does address the advent of photography in a couple of ways.  It presents an empty white room with one illuminating bare bulb, that in conjunction with sensitized lights on the surface of the room causes the shadow of the viewer to be displayed as a form produced in light on the white scrim that covers the walls and ceiling.  So this piece does perform the crucial aspect of Fox-Talbot’s development of the medium: production of an analog, negative image.  But in the case of my work this image is not fixed – in fact it follows the viewer as they move about the space, making their body a primary component in the work; in a manner relates to the theatricalization of the body in minimalist art as described by Michael Fried back in the 60s.

Random Composition 74-7, 2010

How do you feel about the shifting values of art being digitally produced today?
I think the more pressing discussion actually surrounds the greater industrialization of art practice today and how this runs counter to the idealism of art in general.  This is, of course, linked to the industrialization of representation that was brought to the fore with the technological revolution of photography in the 19th century, but I don’t see the change in digital technology having as dramatic a change as the origination of photography did then.  In fact, the digital development in representation seems to be just another part of the inherently technological progression of photography from the beginning.  It is clear that the digital takeover from analog has caused a wide swath of artists to revert to simulating the forms of earlier modernist practices.  But for me, my engagement with a chosen subject is primary. If the subject suggests the use of digital tools I naturally pursue this direction with the aim of finding the social correlation to these tools in the final work.

Your work deals with visual memory and architecture. How does the LA scene effect your work?
That’s a big question.  I guess my first answer would be to say that Los Angeles affects my work because it allows me to have a studio and more mental and physical space than if I lived in a city like New York.  My studio is about 1000sq ft and I rent it for $700.  I always seem to be moving towards a post-studio practice, but still, having this space affords a kind of freedom I doubt I could afford elsewhere.  For the second answer, I’d say that my work explicitly addresses site and the referential qualities of site in photography, so the model of a metropolis that exists in Los Angeles is very significant to what I do.  There’s too much to say about Los Angeles to fit in the space we have for this interview, so I’ll simply say that I often still get lost in this city – I find myself in places that I’ve never been. It’s hard to be definite, but I think that this aspect of the city has helped me generate new work.

Banqueting House, 2007

If you were to live in another city, where would that be?
I’ve always wanted to live in Brussels, but would probably choose Berlin as it is less of a fantasy for me.

What inspired you to go for a more minimalist approach in the “Random Composition” series? Are the colors symbolic in their meaning?
Last question first – the colors are not symbolic to me, but I could see how they might be to you or any viewer.  The Random Composition series don’t seem that minimal to me.  They’ve each got a monochromatic front face with 4 different photographs that occupy the sides, top, and bottom.  So they initially present a minimal front to the viewer but it’s surrounded by photographs that connect to the wall.  It’s important to me that all aspects of these pieces are generated randomly: the dimensions of the piece, the color of the front, and the selection of images from an archive of almost 100,000 photographs I have made since 2003.  It’s important to note that once I generate the potential object, I only select to produce about 5-10% of these as actual physical pieces.  This means that I don’t subjectively compose them, but after they exist virtually as readymades constructed with this system, I make ones that are chosen in a fashion that relates to the kind of selection process that a photographer has traditionally made when looking at a contact sheet.

Basement Box, 2008

Hermann Pitz at Galerie Thomas Schulte (installation view)

Team Gallery (installation view)

As Frieze is taking shape in London and Art Basel in Miami is right around the corner, Berlin’s Art Forum just opened yesterday and runs until October 10th. In it’s 15th edition, the Fair is held in the grand Palais am Funkturm, with beautiful ballroom interiors, a charming setting to experience art sans the “market” craze. With local and international participants there is also an interesting program of art talks including: Current Trends in Museums:  Susannne Gaensheimer (Director MMK Frankfurt am Main), Joanna Mytkowska (Director Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw), Bartomeu Marí (Director MACBA, Barcelona), Matthias Mühling (Head of Collections Art after 1945, Lenbachhaus, Munich).  Public/Private Collectors’ Panel: Erika Hoffmann (collector, Berlin), Harald Falckenberg (collector, Hamburg).

Greg Bogin, Accumulation of Meaningless Moments, 2010. Leo Koenig (NY)

The participating galleries this year is more enthusiastic than before and maybe because they’ve gone through a pendulum swing in the art market, the range of contemporary works that is being shown is both exciting and freshly dynamic. Here are some of the gallery highlights from Berlin and New York. Lots of images below, so it might take a minute to load.

Ridley Howard, Bedroom #1, 2010. Leo Koenig (NY)

Johannes Vogl, Untitled (Schaukel / Swing), 2010. Galerie Jette Rudolph (Berlin)

Constantin Luser, 2010. Galerie Jette Rudolph (Berlin)

Mark Mulroney, Bite Down and Stay Down, 2010. Mixed Greens (NY)

Taiyo Onorato & Nico Krebs, Car 2, 2008. KUNSTAGENTEN Gallery (Berlin)

Jakob Kolding, Untitled (left). Polemic for a Structural Revolution (right), 2010. Team Gallery (NY)

Oliver van den Berg, Sternenprojector, 2005. Kuckei + Kuckei (Berlin)

All images courtesy of the galleries.