Kevin Bjorke reacquainted me with Harvey Benge yesterday (web here and blog here)
I came across Harvey a few years ago, and even bought a couple of his books ‘A Guide to Modern Living’ and ‘Vital Signs’.
As well as really liking the pics I was also very intrigued at how he chose to organise the pics in his projects. In ‘Vital Signs’, he organises the images into chapters based on medical vital signs. Level of Consciousness, Body Temperature, Circulation, Blood Pressure, Heart Rate, Respiratory Rate, Eye Reaction.
His choice of this structure was based around a desire to show what it is like for him to ‘be alive’ in a belief that how you construct the landscape around you is as much a ‘vital sign’ of ‘being’ as medical terms.
Now, whilst I might agree or not with the philosophy here, the attempt at organising a project is an interesting one.
What I’d missed from not checking his website often enough, is that he has moved from this approach to creating composites - something anyone who knows me is aware I’m keenly interested in.
I’m more than a little frustrated that I can’t find any text on any of these new projects, so I guess I need to buy some more books! Without the text I’m left with something that I’m very keenly aware is a keypoint of composites - ‘can I work out the relationships of the images without a supporting text?’ Unfortunately, no, I can’t - and this not a failure of Harvey’s just a facet of this strategy. But I can get lost in these images and construct all sorts of meanings - I can encounter these works and come away with something new. Something that for me is a key factor in an artistic experience. Can I play with these, am I a partner in this encounter with the artwork or is my role limited to agreeing with whatever point the artist is trying to make?
I’m very intrigued by these and will be getting a couple of more books - he has even had the back of his head photographed by Nartin Parr, what more can I say!
