HELEN GORY GALLERY to present an exhibition by NoA founder Elliot V Kotek!
Timed contemporaneously to the expiration of the last packets of Polaroid film ever made, Kotek's photographic presentation at the Helen Gory Galerie in Prahran, [Victoria, Australia], places original old-school Polaroids alongside iPhone-captured pixels altered by an application that transforms the digital images into a Polaroid-esque picture.
By presenting the images taken by the original instamatic in direct light of the new media technology that has dealt the demise of Polaroid and its rivals, the audience is left to consider the tempestuous trajectoryof digital photography and the impact of "improvements" on the old technology we formerly cherished for its unpredictability.
The exhibition rightly presents the mobile phone as the ubiquitous cameraof our time, providing instant reminiscences within a practical communication tool. For better and for worse, the camera's inclusion inthat most used possession has subjected every moment of our movements to permanent exposure.
The short film shown as part of the presentation, and for which many of the images on display were created, is Ceci n'est pas une Polaroid. The title is a direct play on Rene Magritte's 1928-29 series aptly known as "The Treachery of Images." Coincidentally, that series was created at a time when most were beginning to suffer the effects of the Great Depression.
Originallyfilmed as part of a project called "140," Kotek attempts to capture his environment in 140 seconds (a construct held in reference to Twitter's140 characters) using both old media and new media, and to film theresults side by side using the appropriate slideshow "technology."Again, the sound of Kotek's current environment (Venice Beach, Calif.)was captured using the iPhone's own speaker.
Born in Melbourne, Australia, but currently residing in the United States,Elliot V. Kotek spent two years at the famed Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in New York City, won the Craft Award at the NYU/Tisch FirstRun Film Festival, has worked with acclaimed actor/writer Steven Berkoff, received three Maggie Awards for his efforts at the US-based Moving Pictures magazine,and has starred in films presented at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, the Festival D'Aubagne, American Cinematheque and elsewhere.
Posted by Elliot V. Kotek at 7/27/2009 7:26 AM 
Categories: film, artist, photography, exhibition, art, photographs
Tags: The Nation of Artists nation of artists Elliot V. Kotek Photography 140 film Photographs short film
Categories: film, artist, photography, exhibition, art, photographs
Tags: The Nation of Artists nation of artists Elliot V. Kotek Photography 140 film Photographs short film
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