Absorption + Transmission – Andrew Karl Francois Amelinckx

Doug and Mike Starn, Black Pulse 15 (Lambda), 2000-5. Lambda digital C-print; 112 x 154 inches.

The Starn twins began their careers by expanding the possibilities of photography. They revealed a truth that was never spoken of in polite circles: the fact that a photographic image is on a support made of paper. They folded, ripped and taped their photos to reveal the true nature of the medium, and they then began to manipulate the work into sculptural and eccentric forms.

Flash forward 20 years to the veins of blown-up leaves and ghostly trees, "Absorption + Transmission." They have moved from dealing with the photograph as object and playing with framing devices to a metaphysical exploration of light and the systems that transform light to energy or image. The show is comprised of selections from two different bodies of work. The first, "Structure of Thought," speaks of the macrocosmic with some overlap, contrasts and connections to the microcosmic. The images are of branching trees, grayish light seeping from behind the dark branches. In Structure of Thought 13 the inclusion of neural transmitter imagery juxtaposed with the trees allows us to look at just how similar the human and arboreal can be. The same dynamic systems found in the human body, the cardiovascular and the nervous systems, are here related to the ever upward and outward branching of trees.

The second, "Black Pulse," deals with the microcosmic through scanned and digitally stripped leaves that reveal the veins within. These works explore the macro/micro by revealing minute details of the inner structure of leaves on a grand scale.

The abstract possibilities of photography and an affinity with painting are two ideas that the twins have explored in the past. In the 80s they started dealing with abstraction in such works as Black Piece and Red and Black. Both these photoworks are without imagery, the only form is the shape made by the taped areas and the edges of the paper. The artists have stated that they went towards abstraction to get away from the critical response that their work was romantic and gothic–a throwback to the 19th Century.

They continue this exploration in their current work but in two different ways. In this show we see a more sophisticated and painterly use of the abstract quality of the subject matter. The trees and leaves maintain a sense of abstraction but are much more lyrical in presentation. The large format of the photographs, a stylistic trait they have been using almost since the beginning of their careers, is related to painting more than to traditional photography and works to their advantage. Through the use of highly specialized cameras, we see the intricate details of the microcosmic in full force and all its delicacy. If their work has been perceived as romantic in the past, the use of this technology goes beyond perceived romance to the scientific in the same way that Muybridge did when he moved from landscape photography to his motion studies. The beauty remains but something new is revealed.

The Starns have always been looking for metaphors for the structure of the inner and outer worlds that we inhabit and that inhabit us. The tearing, bending and augmentation of the photo paper in the 80s was their first foray in to this arena. The manipulation became a way to open pathways never before considered. With "Absorption + Transmission" they literally allow the viewer to see the connections and pathways that were merely metaphorical in their earlier work.