UNAMERICAN UNFAMOUS - Brooklyn (2023)
By Clive Holden (and Brooklyn). Photographers and photo-based artists include: Bill Askins, Ellen Jacob, Jeremy Stigter, Joe Schwartz, Marcia Bricker, Margot Kerlidou, Michael Sabatelle, Michael Trimboli, N. Jay Jaffee, and Robert Gurbo. Thanks to: Jeffrey Delgado, Jonathon Watney, and Tommy Mintz.
UNAMERICAN UNFAMOUS - Brooklyn, is an installation by Clive Holden (and Brooklyn) that is being exhibited at KAM/Kingsborough Art Museum in the summer of 2023. It is a live generative artwork where art worlds meet head-on and make harmony.
The related UNAMERICAN UNFAMOUS - Brooklyn print series, that is featured here, forms a constellation of paper-based works that relate to the generative artwork. They are made from the same raw materials, including a variety of photograph formats and styles, obtained through a year-long Call for Submissions, juxtaposed with a variety of 20th century analog visual materials (such as motion picture film) that have been hand-painted, scraped, and layered.
The resulting work exists in conversation with the history of the glowing image. From the invention of stained glass (the original luminous rectangle), to painters' techniques to make light dance on canvas, to decades of innovation in electronic art-making, the story of art often centers on our fascination with objects that shine.
The work's chief organizational strategy evolved through the repetition of photographs, juxtaposed and layered with the continuous pulse of the abstract loops. Underlying rhythms emanate from a system of algorithmic 'players' that complete the artwork as a form of composed chance. Their play is akin to that of improvising musicians who, within a song's 'instructions', respond to the live moment and to each other.
Clive Holden: 'Liveness’ is central to my practice. It's related to the history of chance in visual art and to the joy of a unique live performance/event, as well as to 'return with a difference' forms such as kinetic sculpture.
In making UNAMERICAN UNFAMOUS – Brooklyn, I decided early on that collaboration would be part of this process. My outreach to the Brooklyn community, alongside my travels throughout the borough, helped determine the work's generative shape. As an experiment, I chose to work only with images I had permission to use. That, instead of seeking found materials online or elsewhere, I opted to ask for photographs as a form of community-based art. The process forced me out of my comfort zone to work with another rewarding element of chance.
UNAMERICAN UNFAMOUS - Brooklyn shows at KAM from July 20 to August 30, 2023. Opening reception: July 20th, 4-7 pm.