Web of Uncertainty

Web of Uncertainty is a history of the present compiled via the Sebaldian method of investigating threads in the environment. The sequence of images forms a characterization of a point of time much like fiction with minimal narrative. Compression of distance leaves little space to wander. One is forced to look directly at the known and the unknown. 

One afternoon in 2009 I found myself surrounded by abandoned buildings. I peered into windows covered with overgrowth and decay. I saw seemingly inert walls that held a fullness ready to explode. I approached dark doorways ready to devour whoever entered. My usual fluidity of movement was thwarted by barriers of grids. As I began to photograph I noticed a uniform composition in my surroundings; natural and constructed merged in the old structures. Energy and matter seemed to move freely within the viewfinder. The camera captured images packed with meticulous detail—more than I could see immediately but not more than one can see with the time to examine a print. I continued my search within this web of interconnections outside my comprehension. 

Upon reviewing my initial group of images I realized my true subject was uncertainty. 

Walls of dense natural growth blocked the way. Aged surfaces hid inner workings. Through the lens, I investigated lines leading to and from these scenes as well as layers of transparency, shadow, and reflection. Incomplete edges and even dust amplified the ambiguity I encountered. Faced with portals to emptiness and windows with no view I saw no way out. The resulting series offers little figure or ground and no identifiable place or time. Anonymous marks of the process of life inhabit these rectangles on the paper. The Web of Uncertainty depicts waymarks I encountered in searching for a larger and deeper view.

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Edition of eight. 2009-2014. (Note that this work was done using various cameras with different aspect ratios. Therefore, image sizes are irregular.)  

A print on demand book is available at Magcloud.com at: www.magcloud.com/browse/magazine/371349 

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Smaller, mounted prints are available for display only. Here is the installation of the complete series on a wall 28 feet wide.