21/11/2011

Dazed & Confused / 20 years of getting away with it

One of our resident artists had a write up in this months Dazed & Confused magazine shot by Rankin. Earlier on this year we posted a blog about his departure to the far north, here's what Dazed had to say...

Brendan's pallid landscapes are almost Herzogian in their atmosphere. The marks of the human punctuate the desolate washed-out palette of the vast natural wilderness. Brendan travels in order to test his body, hone his keen eye and sharpen his inquiring mind. When discussing the series he explains. "There is definitely a presence of nature. Mountains upon mountains, the whitest white and a freezing cold that is unavoidable. I had to experience all of these things. Without looking, smelling and tasting the world how can you make comment in your work?"

In Svalbard, the world's northernmost territory, Brendan shot the crisp clear photos on a large format camera: "The unknown is erotic, when you shoot film you never know what will come back" As part of the endurance process undertaken to shoot the series, he lugged the giant camera with him, snow breaking beneath his feet and the metal camera sticking to him, all while maintaining constant vigilance for roaming polar bears ( Something that proved difficult when beneath a camera hood ). The resulting photos capture both the place and the process and highlight the presence of man as being the definite but ultimately inconsequential in these remote locations.

Taking inspiration from sunshine and Cezanne, his tastes are unpretentious and honest, but his ambitions are huge. Brendan plans these excursions from his Kingsland Road Studio in east London.

Words by Susannah Davis Cook for Dazed and Confused 18/11/11
http://tinyurl.com/bsa7hym