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Above, images from Christine Gatti's ":18 Project"
A List
8/2/06
SLU GALLERY EXHIBITING PHOTOS, VIDEO BY CHRISTINE GATTI
CANTON - Work by photographer and musician Christine Gatti, titled ":18 Project,"
will be on exhibition in the Richard F. Brush Art Gallery at St. Lawrence University
from Wednesday, August 16, through Wednesday, September 27.
A slide lecture and discussion with the artist will be held on Monday, September 11,
at 4:30 p.m. in Room 123 of the Griffiths Arts Center; it is open to the public, free
of charge.
Gatti states, "From late July 2004 through mid-January 2006, I took two photographs -
one of my face and the other of my surrounding environment - on the 18th minute of
each hour of every day. At bedtime, I set the camera on a tripod and programmed the
timer to activate as I slept. I chose the 18th minute because I was born on the 18th
day of November, and ever since I was a young girl, I've noticed the numbers '11:18'
on the digital clock next to my bed. Each time, it seems a strange, familiar
coincidence.
"It would be easy for anyone looking at this project to assume that it is about
contemporary culture's fascination with reality TV, fast-paced MTV-style editing,
short attention spans and a snapshot aesthetic," Gatti says. "However, the
motivation behind the project was actually more personal and practical. I
wanted to be present in my own life, to come out of my head for a moment
or two every hour and take note of where I was in the physical world, to
become aware of my feet on the ground. I saw the project as a meditation; a ritual;
a commitment added to a less committed life; an experiment. This process, to
become mindful for a few moments on the hour, has produced more than 20,000
images."
Gatti lives and works in New York City. Her passion for photography began when
she discovered the macro lens on her father's Pentax Spotmatic, a fixture in
his dental office. Throughout her New Jersey childhood, she experimented with
the family's Super 8 camera and her prized Kodak 110 Pocket Instamatic. Gatti
received her formal education in photography at the Rochester Institute of
Technology, and has pursued an eclectic freelancer's life, assisting fashion
photographer Patrick Demarchelier; scouting locations for reality TV shows;
wrangling babies for advertising shoots; building sets; composing music for
independent films; and singing in bars. All of these experiences have informed
her work.
In 2005, Gatti submitted the ":18 Project" to CEPA Gallery's annual Members'
Show competition in Buffalo. Subsequently, the project was selected for a solo
exhibition at CEPA's Flux Gallery. Components of the :18 Project have been
shown in the Slideluck Potshow and Group-Show.com, both in New York. Aperture
Foundation's executive book editor, Lesley Martin, also included Gatti's work
in Eleven New Viewpoints, as part of "Fellowship 2005" at the Silver Eye Center
for Photography in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
For more information or to arrange individual or group tours, contact the
gallery at 315-229-5174.
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More information: The Arts at St. Lawrence
Christine Gatti's Web site
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