Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Chicago installation artist Jean Marie Casbarian

I attended the PSU art department's Monday Night Lecture, organized by faculty member Harrell Fletcher. The presenter, Jean Marie Casbarian, produces highly personal installations. I thought her works could be promoted more accurately as photography incorporating some aspects of multi-media and installation art, rather than installation art incorporating photography.

I wondered if the personal side of her work has begun to take over the creative. She's researching, documenting, and drawing from her family history. I'm not sure that bits and pieces of information on the Aberdeen Proving Ground translates into interesting art. Sometimes, when we focus on finer detail (in this case the detail of Casbarian's life and family), the image becomes banal.

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