Enter the Matrix: An Examination of Patrick Pound's The Great Exhibition

<p>This thesis considers the practice of New Zealand-born artist, Patrick Pound (b. 1962) through an analysis of his survey show, Patrick Pound: The Great Exhibition, which was staged at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne between 31 March and 30 July 2017. The Great Exhibition demonstrates the complexity and multiplicity of Pound’s practice, exemplifying the interconnectedness of his thinking and his use of an algorithmic approach to collecting, curating and categorisation. His depth of art-historical knowledge plays out as an intricate puzzle. The scope of The Great Exhibition is vast and, while it might appear to mostly involve the arrangement of more than 4,000 vernacular photographs and found objects, alongside 300 items from the NGV’s collection, the methodologies of collecting and curation employed by Pound are multifaceted. I consider the constancy of Pound’s interrogation of authorship and meaning throughout his practice, which is integrally related to his use of vernacular photographs and found objects within The Great Exhibition. I examine our relationship with vernacular photography and how this is exposed in The Great Exhibition. The practices of artists such as Erik Kessels, Joachim Schmid and Marcel Duchamp provide context here. Chapter Three asks how The Great Exhibition fits within a wider context of exhibitions by artist-as-curators such as Fred Wilson’s Mining the Museum and Edward Steichen’s The Family of Man. This chapter also examines how computer algorithms can be applied as a framework for understanding The Great Exhibition’s curatorial logic. Pound’s complex system of sorting and categorising into matrices and intersections is considered in relation to writer Georges Perec and his understanding of Alan Turing’s conceptualisation of the ‘Automatic’ and ‘Oracle’ machines. My conclusion reflects on what can and cannot be learned from Patrick Pound’s The Great Exhibition.</p>

Enter the Matrix: An Examination of Patrick Pound's The Great Exhibition

<p>This thesis considers the practice of New Zealand-born artist, Patrick Pound (b. 1962) through an analysis of his survey show, Patrick Pound: The Great Exhibition, which was staged at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne between 31 March and 30 July 2017. The Great Exhibition demonstrates the complexity and multiplicity of Pound’s practice, exemplifying the interconnectedness of his thinking and his use of an algorithmic approach to collecting, curating and categorisation. His depth of art-historical knowledge plays out as an intricate puzzle. The scope of The Great Exhibition is vast and, while it might appear to mostly involve the arrangement of more than 4,000 vernacular photographs and found objects, alongside 300 items from the NGV’s collection, the methodologies of collecting and curation employed by Pound are multifaceted. I consider the constancy of Pound’s interrogation of authorship and meaning throughout his practice, which is integrally related to his use of vernacular photographs and found objects within The Great Exhibition. I examine our relationship with vernacular photography and how this is exposed in The Great Exhibition. The practices of artists such as Erik Kessels, Joachim Schmid and Marcel Duchamp provide context here. Chapter Three asks how The Great Exhibition fits within a wider context of exhibitions by artist-as-curators such as Fred Wilson’s Mining the Museum and Edward Steichen’s The Family of Man. This chapter also examines how computer algorithms can be applied as a framework for understanding The Great Exhibition’s curatorial logic. Pound’s complex system of sorting and categorising into matrices and intersections is considered in relation to writer Georges Perec and his understanding of Alan Turing’s conceptualisation of the ‘Automatic’ and ‘Oracle’ machines. My conclusion reflects on what can and cannot be learned from Patrick Pound’s The Great Exhibition.</p>

Robert C. Kraut's Japan : cataloguing and contextualizing post World War Two photographic albums of Japan and the South Pacific

This applied thesis examines three albums created by US Army Air Force personnel Robert C. Kraut from 1945-46. The albums were donated by Toronto based artist Max Dean to the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), and serve as a case study for the process of cataloguing and contextualizing albums for future researchers and museum staff. This paper includes a literature survey examining care and handling, social and historical evolutions, and cataloguing practices related to both photographic albums and scrapbooks. An historical analysis of the photographic album as a medium, vernacular photography and the donation process of the albums into the AGO's collection follows. A detailed analysis of the narrative, material orientation, annotation, layout and materiality qualities for each album is included. A cataloguing methodology that both accounts for the albums’ unique layouts and holds to the established conventions for cataloguing albums at the AGO is discussed and described in detail.

American family slideshows : 1952 - 1967

Vernacular photography has been a popular topic of research within the platforms of the history of photography and sociological studies and, in its print form, has increasingly seen its value rise in the marketplace. However, the family slideshow has been largely excluded from these various sites of attention. This thesis explores the family slideshow as a cultural product of mid-twentieth-century America. The slideshow is analysed in terms of how it was presented to and consumed by families in the 1950s and 1960s. The main section of this thesis provides an analysis of a case study carried out regarding the slideshow. The case study collected oral histories from four individuals on their experiences with producing and viewing slideshows in the mid-twentieth century. The analysis provides qualitative research on the consumption, production and viewing of the slideshow as a popular medium for family snapshots.

Robert C. Kraut's Japan : cataloguing and contextualizing post World War Two photographic albums of Japan and the South Pacific

This applied thesis examines three albums created by US Army Air Force personnel Robert C. Kraut from 1945-46. The albums were donated by Toronto based artist Max Dean to the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), and serve as a case study for the process of cataloguing and contextualizing albums for future researchers and museum staff. This paper includes a literature survey examining care and handling, social and historical evolutions, and cataloguing practices related to both photographic albums and scrapbooks. An historical analysis of the photographic album as a medium, vernacular photography and the donation process of the albums into the AGO's collection follows. A detailed analysis of the narrative, material orientation, annotation, layout and materiality qualities for each album is included. A cataloguing methodology that both accounts for the albums’ unique layouts and holds to the established conventions for cataloguing albums at the AGO is discussed and described in detail.

American family slideshows : 1952 - 1967

Vernacular photography has been a popular topic of research within the platforms of the history of photography and sociological studies and, in its print form, has increasingly seen its value rise in the marketplace. However, the family slideshow has been largely excluded from these various sites of attention. This thesis explores the family slideshow as a cultural product of mid-twentieth-century America. The slideshow is analysed in terms of how it was presented to and consumed by families in the 1950s and 1960s. The main section of this thesis provides an analysis of a case study carried out regarding the slideshow. The case study collected oral histories from four individuals on their experiences with producing and viewing slideshows in the mid-twentieth century. The analysis provides qualitative research on the consumption, production and viewing of the slideshow as a popular medium for family snapshots.

Stereo pictures in this mount were not taken by view-master: an illustrated description of the view-master personal stereo system

The View-Master is a beloved toy, well-known to many. However, most people are unaware of the View-Master Personal Stereo system for creating one’s own View-Master Personal Reels – an unusual combination of vernacular imagery and three-dimensional photography. Unfortunately, little has been written about this system, and the institutional collections of Personal Reels are limited. This thesis describes the View-Master Personal Stereo system and establishes its place in the combined history of both amateur and stereoscopic photography. It reviews the history of View-Master and amateur stereoscopic systems, examines the View-Master cameras and accessories, follows the decline of mid-century amateur stereoscopic photography, and discusses users and collectors of the system. The result is a compilation of information that both defines the View-Master Personal Stereo system and constitutes an argument that the View-Master Personal Reels have a place in institutional collections of vernacular photography.

Stereo pictures in this mount were not taken by view-master: an illustrated description of the view-master personal stereo system

The View-Master is a beloved toy, well-known to many. However, most people are unaware of the View-Master Personal Stereo system for creating one’s own View-Master Personal Reels – an unusual combination of vernacular imagery and three-dimensional photography. Unfortunately, little has been written about this system, and the institutional collections of Personal Reels are limited. This thesis describes the View-Master Personal Stereo system and establishes its place in the combined history of both amateur and stereoscopic photography. It reviews the history of View-Master and amateur stereoscopic systems, examines the View-Master cameras and accessories, follows the decline of mid-century amateur stereoscopic photography, and discusses users and collectors of the system. The result is a compilation of information that both defines the View-Master Personal Stereo system and constitutes an argument that the View-Master Personal Reels have a place in institutional collections of vernacular photography.

Photographs On A Refrigerator : A Display Of Visual Culture

This project will focus on family based vernacular photography and modes of display, with specific attention paid to the household refrigerator as a framing device. Photographs on refrigerators are in many North American homes. Since the invention of photography, the home has and continues to be an area of display for vernacular family photographs. These displays of family photographs are important to consider because they are an example of how people use photographs in their everyday lives, and provide a representation of a family, generation and culture. This investigation will show that people display similar photographs for similar reasons, and that photographs are a common form of record making and celebration for families. Finally, this project will address vernacular photographs within the context of institutional collections. What collecting biases do vernacular photographs confront, and how does the commonality of vernacular photographs raise new questions about institutional collection practices based on the rarified and the valuable cultural object?