The slide trays that are featured in this series were photographed in slide libraries that were in the process of being dismantled. As these collections were being replaced by digital archives, they had not been updated or even maintained in a long time. The slides thus become markers of evolving times; their labeling and classification point to changes in our language usage, global awareness, cultural understanding, and also to shifts in world geographies and politics. The system of classification also underscores an emphasis on Western content and European colonial history – a single tray of slides may contain up to six non-Western countries, whereas a white male artist may be represented by up to six trays of slides. For an art biennale in Tenerife, Spain, I focused my attention on a single art history slide collection. For this exhibition, I mounted a 12 foot x 50 foot montage of every slide tray that contained slides from Italy. This mural was juxtaposed with seven slide trays that contained slides from Spain (two were entirely devoted to Picasso), and a single slide tray, containing less than a dozen slides, labeled Africa/Ceylon. These works were installed in the Santa Cruz library, near book stacks that are largely ignored by visitors, as most visitors choose to work on their laptops.
See Prefix Photo 35. Nation States, Spring/Summer 2017: http://www.prefix.ca/magazine/
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Italy 1 – 74, Inkjet on Vinyl, 2017
114.2″ x 598″ (290 cm x 1519 cm)
Every tray containing slides from Italy, shot from a bird’s eye view
Installed in the Santa Cruz library in Tenerife, Spain
Commissioned for Fotonoviembre 2017
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Italy 1 – 74. Detail
Africa Ceylon
Digital C-print, 2016
20” x 23” (51 cm x 58 cm)
North American Indian 2
Digital C-print, 2016
20” x 23” (51 cm x 58 cm)
Mexico Manuscripts
Digital C-print, 2016
20” x 23” (51 cm x 58 cm)
Egypt Iran Iraq Israel Italy
Digital C-print, 2017
20” x 23” (51 cm x 58 cm)
India Iraq Israel Afghanistan Pakistan Cambodia Indonesia
Digital C-print, 2017
20” x 23” (51 cm x 58 cm)
Islamic Maps Egypt
Digital C-print, 2017
20” x 23” (51 cm x 58 cm)
Japan Korea Tibet
Digital C-print, 2017
20” x 23” (51 cm x 58 cm)
SLIDE TRAYS: THE CANADIAN COLLECTION
A subset of the series Slide Trays, The Canadian Collection depicts the bright red drawers of a tool box, typically sold at hardware stores such as Canadian Tire. Fittingly, the drawers have been retrofitted by a slide library archivist to house slides by Canadian artists.
Karsh, Lake, Letendre
C-print from digital file, 2017
32″ x 39″ (81 cm x 100 cm)
Jolicoeur, Molinari, Notman
C-print from digital file, 2017
32″ x 39″ (81 cm x 100 cm)
Burtynsky, Carr, Colville
C-print from digital file, 2017
32″ x 39″ (81 cm x 100 cm)
Canada 2: Remnants
C-print from digital file, 2018
32″ x 39″ (81 cm x 100 cm)
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SUSAN DOBSON 