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There is something about viewing a scene of
abandonment where the subject matter has been laid to rest and deserted in
favour of a more fashionable ideal, which echoes the notion of a disposed
past. This is no more evident than in the work of Phil Bergerson in American
Artifacts where
he meticulously analyses and documents a social and cultural transition
into the 21st century capturing the discarded items of yesterday that fell
victim to the search for the American dream.
Whilst looking on the shop windows laden with out-dated stock, the worn
graffiti expressing that individuals antiquated opinion, to the scrapyards
showcasing domestic relics and old cars that not too many years ago
would have been someone's pride and joy. These degraded objects that are
found give an impression of being stripped of all their meaning, as if their
presence and claims are directed at a bygone audience, worthless within today's
society. Items that were once carefully advertised in window displays now appear preserved within their
glass frontages as if now presented in a museum to depict a former glory day.
Bergerson mentions that American Artifacts is a search for the remnants of the
American dream, this expresses a recognition of these lost possessions,
ambitions and dreams as a stepping stone towards societies pursuit for their
own American dream, presenting
what is left behind as culturally insignificant within the idea of
each individuals search for betterment.
One thing evident within Bergerson's work is just how much advertising has
changed over the past 20 years. Margaret Atwood explains within the excerpts
from her book Payback, featured within the opening of the book just how much the trends of
advertisement have changed. She
recalls how she used to ride the bus in the 1950s, from which she would be
able to see all the billboards displaying consumerist campaigns selling items
from girdles and brassieres to deodorant and mouthwash. Advertising now seems
preoccupied with a health and
debt conscious society where efforts are focused around reminding us how bad
smoking is, the very real risk of heart disease from a bad diet and how in
only 15 minutes you could be approved for a debt consolidation loan! It
appears that we are now required
to be constantly reminded how most things will give us cancer and how poor we
all are.
The general consensus is that the majority of advertisement is focused around
acting as a big brother to society letting you know what you should or
shouldn't be doing. This is reflected within Bergeron's condensed American
autopsy and shows just how little
ideologies are time honoured; representing the fickle nature of our
own desires as they themselves change as quickly as the circumstances in
which they emerged from.
One thing that I do notice has a running theme throughout the series of
images is a religiously driven level of personal expression on show. Examples
such as on page 3 where in Orangeburg, South Carolina it which shows a
selection of pickets nailed to a
tree stating that 'Sin will kill you' and 'Sex without marriage is
death', which shows how strong and unwavering beliefs have been and can
still be expected of people throughout many parts of America. I find this
particular factor to be unsettling from my atheist perspective and although many things change with
time, it reverberates on the unchanging presence of control within religion
still evident within society.
Although these images show a continuing ideology through time, the image on
page 41 from Houston, Texas implies just how far we have come in recent years
as it depicts a shop window with an image of a white woman labelled 'fixed'
and an image of a black man labelled 'coloured'. It was only at a second
glance that I realised this was a photography printing shop and these were
merely post production processes, that said it brought to mind just how far
racism has decreased within America over the past few decades and indicates how change can indeed
be for the better and not everything left behind should be cherished.
I find that the final excerpt within Bergeson's book, 'Sequencing' by Nathan
Lyons excellently expresses the role of artistic conduct within a world so
saturated with imagery. It addresses how by having so many images already at
our disposal, whether the reality of such visual documentation has been lost
in favour of a personal or technical representation from the person creating
the photograph.
This is better explained within a quote by Jean A Kaims who insists that
'photography has pervaded our whole existence to such an extent that we are
no longer aware of its influence'. I agree that we cannot turn our heads
without being faced with a photograph
of some description, but as I see it, within Bergeron's exposure to
the part of America that is not always made readily available by mainstream
advertising's de rigueur approach, is instead presented in an unpretentious
and informative context, systematically
bringing to light the footprints left behind from our own success,
spanning the length of an unseen America.
© David Pearce 2014
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