Where Words Are Lostbr> Artist statement
Karin Bar

By making something out of classic photography and ready made “pop” objects, I am concerned with issues of how we perceive reality and communication in modern life.

I work with black, white and yellow color palette. Yellow, colorful version of gray is the image, a round shaped yellow face. The photographs are black and white, I like it to be monochromatic it consumes the time element away. Timeless is black and white. Each frame is 4x6 just like album photos. I shoot with an old Olympus Infinity, I’ve had the same camera for a while now, the brand logo is already gone, and so does the back menu. I don’t shoot with the iPhone, it would be untimely. I capture it on film, Kodak TMax 100 like the manufacturer says “A mix of razor sharpness and nearly invisible grain..”. Film smells, I like my medium to have the extra sense, the fourth dimension. Film says I WAS THERE, and I can prove it.

I investigate the I WAS THERE mentality in my work, where an image is firmer than words.
This is where my yellow icons are situated, where words lose their meaning. Each face is chosen based on the emotions I recall from being present. I convey myself as a viewer, the subject as my object and the other viewer is you. I like to make YOU feel where I was, so if the angle is off, it’s ok. It’s not about perfection, it was never about the technique, it’s about what I would like to show you. Been there, wishing you were here with me, the time element of longing, yearning and remembering is what drives me to document. I collect evidence for myself, I produce evidence for my viewer. I critic in my art. My format captures and copy’s reality.

I paste the sticker on my prints, the act alone feels deadly. I hide my subjects face mindless creatures, I only take what I need. I use 56 yellow faces to show different set of emotions that we can all interpret. I like to be blunt, it’s the shock and awe effect I grow up with. Glueing the original to the disposable is what makes the work permanent. Popular culture, communication trends and mainstream reality is what my generation is bringing to the big book of history. We don’t invent, we re invent. We don’t think we rethink, we don’t mix we remix. In working with mixed media it is really important to me to create an experience of emotional response, it won’t matter to me if YOU love or hate as long as you feel.

Karin Bar
2015

Blue Los Angeles, 2016

OUTTAKES from my shoot with Teresa Oman for The Unlimited Magazine issue #5

Http://www.bit.ly/theunlimitedmagazine