Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Oscar Guzman: the surface of dreams

It is not quite as the artist, Oscar Guzman, would have it - those images are not photos. We can hardly say they have "characteristics of a photographic record", as the author puts it. They are clearly painted, in a style resembling some computer games. But that's where similarities stop.
I remember playing a flight simulator with my brother some years ago. We ignored the supposed objective of the game and simply kept flying around, enjoying the view. That is how I feel watching these wonderful city landscapes - as if I discovered another way, another level.
It is clearly the level of dreams. The architecture of dreams (hence some echoes of surrealism). The urban dream life. But it doesn't let me dive into it. And that's where the photo analogy becomes useful: here, I stay on the surface. I have evidence that this world exists, but nothing beyond that. These blurred figures are all I'll ever get - they are pictures of a lost civilization. And the association with computer games/graphics makes the civilization a truly unexpected discovery.
PS.: I have just one objection. I would rather not see the focused faces on some of the pictures. They refer me to a particular region, culture, part of the world. I think it's a pity, and not necessary to make our grey cells work.
(via)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

it was again very interesting to read your thought about art.

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