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Are you in line?
New works by Katrin Paul created in & around Ho Chi Minh City with the support of the Goethe Institut Vietnam during a 37 days artist-in-residence at a little blah balh (ALBB) Saigon, September/October 2007Katrin Paul, a German artist, manly using photography as her medium, has been working in Saigon for a month developing a new series of photographs and line drawings that challenge the traditional concept of the photographic portrait. The work, “Are you in line?” raises many questions about the conventions and expectations of portraiture. The work has allowed her to work intimately with several families that have 4 generations.
What can a photographic portrait accomplish? Can it show more than just an image of a specific person? Is it capable of revealing commonalties among human beings? Or is a photographic image always limited to what lies on the surface of the photograph? To what extent can a photograph make a statement about a person, a social situation, or human beings in general, without the addition of a written explanation? Up to a certain point, an image may answer questions regarding the circumstances and social background of the person portrayed, but as for questions reaching beyond the surface, can these be answered by way of imagery alone?
For “Are you in line?” Four members of five families, each representing one generation within the family, were photographed. The same part of the body is photographed for all family members. In addition, the lines of the inner hand of each family member are drawn on paper.
“Are you in line” questions identity and the recognisability from details that are said to have embedded some of the most personal ID information and one’s personal history. If we see only the lines of these parts can we picture the person? The photographs and drawings are arranged in an imaginational grid aligning members of generations as well the members of one family. Which line is more likely to resemble each other, the family line or the generation line? Can these details reveal more of the individuality of a person than a “real” photographic portrait in a conventional sense could do? This connects to a concern that has been in the artist’s mind for the past two years: “to know what is shown does not help to further understand what it is.” (Katrin Paul)
Katrin Paul is doing a 5-week residency with the artists’ initiative, a little blah blah, (albb), in order to create this project. Her work in Vietnam is generously supported by the Goethe Institut Vietnam.
The artist extends her sincere gratitude to the photographed families, Sue Hajdu, her assistant Phan Chi Mai, a little blah blah (albb) & staff, Caroline Sotta, Lam Hieu Thuan and to the Goethe Institut Vietnam.
For “Are you in line?” Four members of five families, each representing one generation within the family, were photographed. The same part of the body is photographed for all family members. In addition, the lines of the inner hand of each family member are drawn on paper.
“Are you in line” questions identity and the recognisability from details that are said to have embedded some of the most personal ID information and one’s personal history. If we see only the lines of these parts can we picture the person? The photographs and drawings are arranged in an imaginational grid aligning members of generations as well the members of one family. Which line is more likely to resemble each other, the family line or the generation line? Can these details reveal more of the individuality of a person than a “real” photographic portrait in a conventional sense could do? This connects to a concern that has been in the artist’s mind for the past two years: “to know what is shown does not help to further understand what it is.” (Katrin Paul)
Katrin Paul is doing a 5-week residency with the artists’ initiative, a little blah blah, (albb), in order to create this project. Her work in Vietnam is generously supported by the Goethe Institut Vietnam.
The artist extends her sincere gratitude to the photographed families, Sue Hajdu, her assistant Phan Chi Mai, a little blah blah (albb) & staff, Caroline Sotta, Lam Hieu Thuan and to the Goethe Institut Vietnam.