Asheville artist Scott Hubener came out to the opening of Mark Menjivar's installation at
window last week and wrote up a nice little response. You can read what he has to say below, and if you are so inclined, you can write your own.
The current exhibition at window
got me thinking. Mark Menjivar's work is about luck. Luck and
interaction, really. The site-specific installation was the launching
point for my access to his work. Only later, upon leaving the
exhibition with both a chance to reflect and the time to learn more
about his project through the online, aptly named Luck Archive, was I
able to digest this work.
What struck me and stuck with me most from Mark's work, both in general
and in relation to this project, is that the subject is secondary to the
action that follows or is created by the particular subject matter.
What I mean to say is that the interaction and collaboration Mark, and
by extension his audience, has with people submitting their objects and
stories of luck are the real exchanges, the real raison d'etre of Mark's
work, and that is the exciting thing for me. Sure, there's something
for exploring luck, but luck itself is not the thing, really its the
foil that gets people to share, to connect about something that can be
personal and real. Luck is the trivial subject. The sharing of stories
is the significant. That fact is exciting for me. I believe that
much too often artists, and photographers specifically, are isolated in
the creation and collaboration of their work. While its true that a
photographer may 'collaborate' with a subject in the creation of an
image, often the interaction is brief and only extends as far as the
subject lending their likeness to a light sensitive surface. The
exchange is often unbalanced. Its exciting to think about collaboration
as being something more, both for the photographer and the audience.
Visit Scott Hubener's Website HERE.
