Anne Hardy
Decay, mess and chaos are everywhere in the scenes Anne Hardy presents in her crisp yet uncanny imagery. At first glance, the unoccupied rooms that she photographs appear neglected but normal. In the spaces Hardy shows us, there are usually signs of rough repairs, but the furniture and settings simply appear beaten down and worn out by excessive, careless use.
But in actuality, none of those objects have been manhandled or clumsily placed. In fact, no one but Hardy herself is responsible for their appearance and location. Because while her images seem to depict happenstance and irresponsible ownership, the objects were all built in her studio for the sole purpose of being photographed.
Hardy's images of urban interiors overtaken by rot and collapsed in disrepair paradoxically highlight our conflicted relationship to nature. Thus, in 'Untitled 1 (cobwebs)' the gaunt skeletons of wooden objects are coated in sheets of spider webs. Two pairs of antlers dangle off a wood wall in 'Swoop,' as the shadows cast beneath them appear to be ominous living winged creatures. Mildew stains the walls in 'Cipher,' which presents an underground weights room whose every aspect is the antithesis of health. And the wood in 'Lumber' is as far from naturalness as a tree can be. There, densely stuffed into a run-down, florescent-lit storage room are countless crumbling Christmas trees, which rot unused and now unloved. It is a saddening sight that serves as a reminder of how Christmas trees are real, living beings that are valued for a brief period of time before being discarded once their romantic purpose is exhausted.
'Lumber', 2003
In her 2004 Thames & Hudson book, "The Photograph as Contemporary Art," Charlotte Cotton articulates the disquieting allure of "Lumber" with the observation, "The skill of making a photograph such as 'Lumber' is to avoid overloading the image with obvious signs and allegory, but to maintain a sense, albeit a fabricated one, that we are looking at an observed rather than a meticulously constructed scene. The space looks like a storeroom for unwanted Christmas trees, but the indoor environment, the menacing shape of the mound of greenery and the thought of what might lie beneath it make for a compelling hovering between what this place might actually be and the unsettling atmosphere within it."
In London, where she lives, Hardy is represented by Maureen Paley, and Bellwether Gallery represents her in New York. Her debut in Manhattan, which consists of five recent photographs showing a dilapidated nightclub, a wrecked recording studio, a basement gym, a cramped firing range and the entrance lobby to a building which doesn't actually exist, runs until May 17th.
'Cabin', 2008
AFH: Do you ever invite viewers into your studio to see your installations, or are you only interested in the resulting photographs?
AH: No, the photograph is the final piece of work for me, and what is really important about it is the fiction of an image. That when you see the image you allow yourself to believe what you see and to investigate the image at that level, rather than primarily think about the way in which it is made, which is of course unavoidable if you see the structure for real. For this reason I also try to keep the photography itself as neutral as possible so that what is achieved is a presentation of a space with you the viewer positioned in relation to it in a very specific way both spatially and psychologically; this is followed through in the final work also in the scale of the images, and position on the wall.
AFH: Is part of this process a desire to force viewers into questioning the veracity of what photographs present as truth?
AH: No, I am more interested in the fiction / reality of the world we construct around us.
AFH: You mean that we decorate the spaces where we meet and socialize in order to create and perpetuate myths about ourselves?
AH: Yes, only it's not just decoration, it's the building too. The structures we make are all loaded with intention and meaning. We then adapt, add and further manipulate those spaces changing, layering and altering those meanings or signals.
AFH: Do you think viewers actually believe that what they have seen in a photo must be real?
AH: Not necessarily, but I think there is an innate tendency to suspend disbelief if something allows us, and to enter an image with a sense of belief even if you are aware that what you may be looking at is fiction.
AFH: What questions do viewers ask you most often?
AH: 'Where is this?'
AFH: How do your installations evolve?
AH: My practice is very process orientated, in that the final image comes out of working with different materials and objects and the kinds of spaces and narratives that they suggest. I have a framework in the type of spaces that I want to have in the image, that they are semi public access rather than domestic for instance, and that they are slightly hidden away. With the pieces that are in the show at Bellwether I wanted them to suggest that they are all communal club-like spaces (as in an association of people rather than a nightclub) to do with different actions and rituals. As well as finding certain objects and materials and working from them, I also have a kind of store in my head of types of space I want to make, both conceptually and in terms of formal qualities. These build up from bits of stories I might hear or read or certain elements of somewhere I visit.
AFH: Why did you select these clubs spaces? Is it for the intimacies and exchanges you assume happen within them?
AH: If you create an association or group space then it also implies an activity that occurs more than once, it also means there is something intended and specific about what is in that space even though the space itself looks quite temporary, adapted or broken down.
AFH: Mostly, are these emotionally charged spaces where activities like meeting strangers, hooking up, confessing issues or other 'loaded' activities occur?
AH: They could be, I don't want to make too specific a definition of the roles of the spaces, since the point of the images is that they remain enigmatic.
'Cipher', 2007
AFH: Why have you decided to not work with domestic spaces?
AH: I am more interested in a space that is somehow public access (even if it is hidden away or hard to access) as to me that represents something that we could all be part of, potentially.
AFH: Do you ever get inspired by your surroundings to incorporate aspects of wherever you are into your work?
AH: yes, I will often see a particular light fitting, or way in which something has been built or made that will make its way back into an image at a later stage. It is important to me that there are things within the images that are understandable and familiar in their use or construction so that there is a way into the image for the viewer, that they can imagine how they might interact with the space in front of them.
AFH: Did you select a studio with these works in mind or did the space that you inhabit inspire the work?
AH: No, although the first studio I had was actually very similar in its entropic broken down quality to a lot of the images! More recently I moved into a larger and better constructed space. But I use the studio space as a blank canvas, a neutral space in which to work. I think other spaces I had spent a lot of time working in, in previous years in actual jobs, were probably more influential, in terms of thinking about the way in which we construct and adapt spaces both intentionally and casually. As well as a lot of time spent wandering, in parts of London, and the fringes of it, in places I find interesting.
AFH: Such as where?
AH I like places that get left between things, that don't really have a purpose and as a result begin to accumulate things; there is a sense of freedom sometimes in such places (that anyone could go there and do anything an no one would be bothered, or even notice) mixed with a slight edge of unease, which I find interesting.
AFH: What about London attracts you?
AH: At a visual level I think there is a constant feeling of both renewal and total collapse which never seem to add up or cancel one another out which is interesting. I think London is also a very hidden city in that so many of the best, most interesting or strangest things are hard to find, both because of the geography and the way things are built here.
AFH: You are similarly inspired by other cities?
AH: I recently visited Los Angeles, which I found very interesting for similar reasons, as well as the extraordinary sense of facade, glamour and harshness all mixed together.
AFH: Not New York?
AH: Yes, I like New York too.
AFH: In your image "Swoop," the shadows from deer antlers seem like birds in flight. What do you think are possible underlying psychological motives for the current trend for decorating with antlers?
AH: Exactly, I wanted the antlers almost become free and fly off the wall towards you. Several pieces I made at a similar time all dealt with the somewhat distanced and symbolic relationship to nature that most of us urban city dwellers have, we bring a Christmas tree in December, put some glow stars on the ceiling and bring trophies back like antlers. I am not sure what the trend for antler decorating is about, but perhaps it is to do with both this distanced relationship to nature and the desire to inject something psychologically darker and therefore more 'authentic' into our interior spaces?
AFH: I agree with that interpretation completely. The aspect of decay in most of your images seems to negate the narrative fact that these spaces were supposedly once decorated and designed by people who wanted to make their spaces look nice. Are you a follower of decorating trends?
AH: I don't think so. But I find the current trend for minimalism and the perfect surface fascinating. We are obsessed with the perfect finishes to floors and walls, and yet if you move into a new place and remove the laminate floor (which is supposed to be this lovely fresh, new, back to nature surface) there will often be layers of other things underneath. It's all a disguise.
'Booth', 2006
AFH: Do you read "World of Interiors," "Domino" or other hip/ trendy home magazines?
AH: No.
AFH: Why not?
AH: I have just not been interested in them.
AFH: In many of your works, nature retaliates against being cast aside. Cobwebs cover everything and dust is highly visible. Do you consider yourself a "city person" or do you regret being an urbanite?
AH: I think I am resolutely a city person, and find the countryside a bit unnerving.
AFH: Are your installations inspired by cinema or other media?
AH: I find a lot of inspiration in literature, and the narrative structure of a novel that refers to a recognizable 'real' world that also does not add up quite right, leaving space to see things familiar in a different light.
AFH: Do you think of your work as "gothic"?
AH: No. In terms of an architectural or style reference not at all. And I think the current use of the world 'gothic' relating to literature, culture, etc. is so much about fantasy. I see my work as being much more connected to the everyday.
AFH: Can you name some authors whose influence has leaked into your art?
AH: JG Ballard, particularly works such as 'Concrete Island,' 'Super Cannes' and 'Kingdom Come;' other recent favorites have been Ryu Murakami's 'Coin Locker Babies;' Brett Easton Ellis - in particular 'Lunar Park;' Mikhail Bulgakov - 'the fatal eggs;' Martin Amis and Hanif Kureishi.
AFH: Have you ever thought of collaborating with a writer on a project - say, have them present you with a scene or description for you to illustrate?
AH: I have quite an open-ended working process so that when I start the picture, I don't know how it will conclude. I allow it to resolve itself through the working process. This is the work, and where the work is made, so for someone else to present me with something to work form would completely negate that.
'Centre', 2008
Anne Hardy
Until 17 May
BELLWETHER
134 Tenth Avenue
New York, NY 10011
T: +1 212-929-5959
www.bellwethergallery.com
All images courtesy of the artist, Maureen Paley, London, and Bellwether, New York.
ANA FINEL HONIGMAN is a critic, PhD candidate in art history at Oxford University and Senior London Correspondent for the Saatchi Gallery's online magazine. She is Art Editor of Alef (alefmag.com) and contributes regularly to such publications as Style.com, Grazia, Tank, Sleek and Harper's Bazaar.
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