Shifting Places
Peter Downsbrough, the Photographs
Alexander Streitberger (Author),
Since the late 1960s Peter Downsbrough has been an important figure in contemporary art, associated with major international art movements as minimal art, conceptual art, and visual poetry. In his artistic work he explores various fields including sculpture, architecture, books, film, and photography. This book provides, for the first time, a profound insight into Downsbrough’s diverse and complex use of photography within his artistic work over the last 40 years. A substantial essay by Alexander Streitberger discusses the artist’s photographic work – which includes single prints, series, postcards, collages, and books – within its aesthetic and historical context. Streitberger relates Downsbrough’s work to fundamental issues of photographic practice and discourse such as the photograph as document, the representation of urban space, space-time relations, collage as an aesthetic and political means of expression, the relationship between still and moving image, and the context of presentation. The rich image material – some of which has never been published before – is arranged by the artist himself in order to create a fertile exchange between the topics of the text and his own intervention. Concluding with an exclusive interview with the artist, the book offers a real dialogue between artistic practice and theoretical reflexion.
This publication is GPRC-labeled (Guaranteed Peer-Reviewed Content).
Contents
Place and Time
Contexts
Color Photographs
Frames
Still Moving
References
Interview
Biography
Presenting many unpublished photographs, 'Shifting Places' gives occasion to consider this especially important category of the artist's work. Some of the most beautiful images convey a sense of uncanny formalization, whereby the obviously deliberate framing of some particular element, such as the central zip of a center pole of a sunlit New York subway car (typically inferable as a row of several) allows, in a 1978 image, for seemingly fortuitous alignments of shadows, and compensations, more than contrived compositional balance, in the different distributions of elements, left and right. I love the resultant sense of unforced order, and so would Kant!
Joseph Mashek, The Brooklyn Rail
Verticale resonanties
Volkmar Mühleis ontrafelt in een bespreking van 'Shifting Places' de blik van auteur Alexander Streitberger op de eigenzinnige subtiliteit van Downsbroughs fotografisch werk.
FAKtor, Maart 2012
Frequently Asked Questions
What is "Shifting Places" about?
Since the late 1960s Peter Downsbrough has been an important figure in contemporary art, associated with major international art movements as minimal art, conceptual art, and visual poetry. In his artistic work he explores various fields including sculpture, architecture, books, film, and photography. This book provides, for the first time, a profound insight into Downsbrough's diverse and complex use of photography within his artistic work over the last 40 years. A substantial essay by Alexander Streitberger discusses the artist's photographic work - which includes single prints, series, postcards, collages, and books - within its aesthetic and historical context. Streitberger relates Downsbrough's work to fundamental issues of photographic practice and discourse such as the photograph as document, the representation of urban space, space-time relations, collage as an aesthetic and political means of expression, the relationship between still and moving image, and the context of presentation. The rich image material - some of which has never been published before - is arranged by the artist himself in order to create a fertile exchange between the topics of the text and his own intervention. Concluding with an exclusive interview with the artist, the book offers a real dialogue between artistic practice and theoretical reflexion.
This publication is GPRC-labeled (Guaranteed Peer-Reviewed Content).
Who wrote "Shifting Places"?
"Shifting Places" was written by Alexander Streitberger.
Alexander Streitberger is professor of art history at UCLouvain.
Is "Shifting Places" part of a series?
Yes, "Shifting Places" is part of the "Lieven Gevaert Series" series. It's book 12 in the series.
The series covers four types of publications:
- outstanding monographic studies
- multi-authored volumes on a specific topic
- book length projects with artists
- translations and/or reprints of classic texts.
All books are published in English and are written for an international audience of scholars.
Format
All books in the series are published in 17*23 cm paperback with French flaps, printed in black and white on white maco paper and with a maximum page extent of 300 pages (120.000 words) including images (unless agreed otherwise).
Authors interested in publishing their book in Open Access can check out the funding options here. Open access books are published under a creative commons license.
Series editors
Hilde Van Gelder, KU Leuven
Alexander Streitberger, UCLouvain
Proposals
Proposals and enquiries can be sent to the series editors.
Please make use of the submission form to present the full manuscript to our board.
Authors interested in Open Access can consult the available funding options.
Links & Resources
What is the Table of Contents for "Shifting Places"?
Contents
Place and Time
Contexts
Color Photographs
Frames
Still Moving
References
Interview
Biography
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