William Lamson Sublunar will be on view at Pierogi Leipzig: 15 September - 10 November, 2007 Click on thumbnails for larger images and more information Scroll down for press release and bio Video Photographs Installation   Sublunar The pursuit of flight, no matter how flawed or hopeless the attempt, places the amateur in the heroic position of trying to transcend his place on earth. This project investigates the flight endeavor as it represents the desire to escape earth and the hope of surpassing human limitation. Artist Statement My work addresses issues of masculinity, amateurism, science, play, and the quixotic quest for personal heroism that accompanies these subjects. I explore culturally glorified narratives from the perspective of the amateur, who is motivated by love for the activity and a desire to achieve, but is limited by a lack of physical and technical expertise. In the resulting work, human struggle becomes the central component. These arduous endeavors offer the perpetual hope of transcendence, however flawed the undertaking may be. By enacting these grand, though often self-defeating experiments, my work addresses the universality of human struggle and how we create meaning through it. Press Release In Galerie 2 and the Videoroom: William Lamson, SUBLUNAR “The pursuit of flight, no matter how flawed or hopeless the attempt, places the amateur in the heroic position of trying to transcend his place on earth. This project investigates the flight endeavor as it represents the desire to escape earth and the hope of surpassing human limitation.” —William Lamson, 2007 In his second exhibition with PIEROGI, William Lamson’s new body of works, SUBLUNAR, marks a seemingly radical and demanding shift in the artists production. Coming out of a tradition of subjective photography, Lamson’s earlier practice involved travelling though the United States photographing people, places, and things. Now he works with concepts as an entry point to his image making process. These ideas are manifested through photographic and video documentations of performances - as well as installations. But, as in his earlier photographs, the work in SUBLUNAR is motivated by a process of search and discovery. “The problem for the intellectual is to try to deal with the impingements of modern professionalization […] by representing a different set of values and prerogatives.” -Edward W. Said. In response to Said’s lecture, Lamson built a three meter paper airplane, and began photographing it at night. The resulting series is at once strikingly clear and oddly obscure, humoristic and pitiable.The exhibition will consist of a series of photographic and video works as well as an installation. Each work documents the attempt (and failure) to escape earth as a metaphor for the human impulse to surpass natural given limitations. In the photograph No 15, 3/11/2006, we in many ways see an almost reversed moon landing; the white orb is an object of this world, not the moon itself - and, although the human figures might look as if they wear so-called Jetpacks, that we know from science fiction, they are in reality leaf blowers. The image depicts Lamson’s interest in human beings' (in)ability to fly; this ability is limited to a predefined time and space and is only possible with (lots of) external help. In that sense, failure is imminent. Many of the works produced for this show are set in desolate landscapes. Places like Joshua Tree and Monument Valley are not only grandiose back drops but enable many of the activities that Lamson sets out to attempt. For example, in the video "Monument Valley Flight Attempt" the artist carries a large paper airplane to the edge of a cliff and throws it into the air. This hopeful gesture is abruptly interrupted as the plane flies downwards. In the succeeding video, entitled "Crash," we follow the plane in medias res, from first-person perspective, as it goes straight down to the valley floor, breaking the camera lens and coming to rest under a rock. As in Lamson’s earlier photographs, the SUBLUNAR series works also have a suppressed narrative. They are a representation of actual events, and at the same time they contain their own stories. They also allow the viewer to come up with their own interpretation. In one of the most uncanny photographs in his Encounter series (2005), "Ball," we see a round, large white object in a living room. This, or a similar object, is also found in SUBLUNAR. In "Levitation Exercise," a 2:33 minute video loop, something that looks like a glowing moon floating in the night sky, starts to fall. When it falls low enough a man pushes it up again. As the video proceeds, the ball and the man move farther into the distance until only the ball is visible. The photographs in this series differ between magically beautiful images and images revealing the mechanisms behind the magical beauty. For instance, in "No 21, 6/16/2006," a C-print, we see a man with his right hand stretched up into the air. Extending from his hand is a thin white line that continues up into the air, out of the frame. This gesture, to communicate or extend oneself upward, regardless of how temporary (fleeting?) the prospect for this might be. Then, in "No 15, 3/11/2006," we see four humans in the characteristic white uniforms, all equipped with a leaf blower, balancing a large white balloon in the air above them. William Lamson (*1977) received his MFA at Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. This year he had solo shows in Seattle and Sydney. Selected group shows in 2007 includes "Orpheus Selection: in search for Darkness at PS1," New York and "Flight of Fancy" at the Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe. This is his second solo show with PIEROGI. He lives in Brooklyn. Brief Bio education 2006 MFA. Bard College. Annandale-on-Hudson, New York 2000 BA. Dartmouth College. Hanover, New Hampshire solo exhibitions "Sublunar," Pierogi. Leipzig, Germany (Catalogue) "Selected Flight Videos," Crawl Space. Seattle, WA "Selected Flight Videos," Stills Gallery. Sydney, Australia "Encounter," Pierogi. Brooklyn, NY (Catalogue) "20 Photographs," Bell Roberts Gallery. Cape Town, South Africa selected group exhibitions 2008 Art on the Edge, Museum of Fine Arts. Santa Fe, NM 2007 Shadow Show, Real Art Ways. Harford, CT Float, Socrates Sculpture Park. Long Island City, NY The Whole Sea Is Storming, Pierogi. Leipzig, Germany Orpheus Selection: In Search of Darkness, P.S.1. Long Island City, NY Easy Rider, Yancey Richardson Gallery. New York, NY (Un)Natural Selection, Pierogi. Brooklyn, NY Pierogi: Flatfiling, Artnews Projects. Berlin, Germany Flight of Fancy, Museum of Fine Arts. Santa Fe, NM 2006 Young Portfolio Acquisition 2006, Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts. Kiyosato, Japan Factitious, Pierogi. Brooklyn, NY. Traveled to Leipzig, Germany “Looking Back from Ground Zero: Images from the Brooklyn Museum Collection,” Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY (August 30, 2006–January 7, 2007) Thesis Show, Bard MFA. Red Hook, NY Think Twice: Young American Photography, TH Inside. Milan, Italy All I want for Christmas, Peter Hay Halpert Fine Art. New York, NY 2005 “ Art and Commerce 2005: Festival of Emerging Photographers,” DUMBO Arts Center (Group Exhib.) (Oct 15–25) “Reconfigure,” Pierogi, Brooklyn, NY (Group Exib.) (July 1–25) “Portraiture,” National Arts Club, New York, NY (Group Exib.) (June 21–29) “Five,” Scalo Project Space, New York, NY (Group Exib.) (May 5–June 1) “This Dream, America,” Art League of Long Island, Dix Hills, NY (Group Exhib.) (May 7–June 12) “Encounter,” Pierogi, Brooklyn, NY (One person) (January 7–February 7) 2004 “A Light That Never Goes Out,” DUMBO Arts Center (Group Exhib.) (Oct. 15–Nov. 21) “Pool Party,” Yossi Milo Gallery, New York, NY (Group Exhib.) (July 6–July 23)) “Vacation Nation,” Pierogi, Brooklyn, NY (Group Exhib.) (July 2–July 28) 2003 20 Photographs, Bell-Roberts Gallery, Cape Town, S.A. (Oct 25–Nov 25) Three-person exhibition: William Lamson, Sebastian Piras, and Hugh Kretschmer, 5+5 Gallery, Brooklyn NY (February 13–March 20) 2001 “New Work,” Two Stones Studio, DUMBO Brooklyn (October) 2000 Group Show. Jaffe-Friede & Strauss Galleries. Dartmouth College (May–June) 1998 Two Person Show. Brace Commons, Dartmouth College (May) 1996 Gold Key Finalist, Exhibited in the Corcoran Gallery, Washington D.C. (Jan) Bibliography 2007 Schmerler, Sarah. “(Un)Natural Selection,” Time Out New York, August 9–15, Issue 619. P.66 (Illus.) “Goings On About Town: (Un)Natural Selection,” The New Yorker, July 25–31 “Exposure: William Lamson,” Outside Magazine, July 2006 Christia, Natasha. “William Lamson,” H Magazine, May “Ball” Le Monde 2, Issue 100, January 14 Think Twice: Young American Photography, (Exhibition Catalogue) TH Inside Milan, May 2005 Irving Pointing to God,” Harper’s Magazine, August (Illus.) “Roving Photographer: William Lamson,” STEP Inside Design, March/April Mitchell, Claire. “Sleeper Hit: William Lamson,” Nylon Guys, March 15 Maine, Stephen. “Dateline Brooklyn,” artnet, posted February 5, 2005 “30 Emerging Photographers to Watch” PDN (Photo District News), March “Me In America,” Itch Magazine, January New Photographers 2006, Curated by Getty Images (Exhibition. Catalogue) 2004 LaSala, Anthony. “Willam Lamson, Rising Star,” PDN (Photo District News), November 2004 George, Kate. “Cathartic moments on film,” A.M. New York, November 19–21, 2004. P.31 Peek, The Art + Commerce Festival Of Emerging Photographers (Exhibition Catalogue) publications Pierogi Press #8, Brooklyn, NY, December 2002 Beyond Santiago, Photographed the 500 mile Catholic pilgrimage across the north of Spain to Santiago de Compostela.
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