Definitions become elusive when attempts are made to hang them on MacDonaldStrand. Strictly speaking, they are photographic artists, and their careers as such are indeed illustrious, yet for their first collaborative show in over a decade,
Definitions become elusive when attempts are made to hang them on MacDonaldStrand. Strictly speaking, they are photographic artists, and their careers as such are illustrious, yet for their first collaborative show in over a decade, opening this Friday as part of the Brighton Photo Fringe, the pair seem determined to blur the lines of what a photography exhibition should involve. A simple series of monochrome images from the 1950s, portraying a couple engaged in acrobatic poses, turns out to be a multi-layered fiction constructed and performed by the couple themselves. A pile of paper scraps, encased in glass, is in fact the remains of the couple’s student work, unwanted, yet impossible to discard completely. And then there are iconic photos – such as Alfred Eisestaedt’s Armistice Kiss – that have been blanked out to just single lines and dot-to-dots. Taking a sideways look at a sometimes overly serious artform, MacDonaldStrand Presents is an eclectic kunstkammer of delights that toys with the notional lines ringfencing the photographic medium before abaondoning them completely. Here, as the pair prepare for the opening, they discuss the importance of variety in their work and why they just can't throw away the shreds.
What prompted this return to collaborative work for the first time in over a decade?
We had a change of circumstances. We had always meant to work with MacDonaldStrand again, but other agendas always interrupted our plan. That said, MacDonaldStrand never really stopped as conversations and the exchange of ideas has been constant and ongoing.
Can you tell me about the moment when Shredded became a possibility? Was it born of a dislike of past works or more a frustration over storage space?
Shredded was always there waiting to happen. We shredded our work approximately seven years ago. We moved house and moved the bin bag full of shreds with us. We knew we wanted to do something with the shreds; we just never had the opportunity to make anything with them until now. We shredded the work because there was no point having it anymore – it was a practical, not artistic, decision, but not a negative act. Every artist and photographer has issues with storage – it's liberating to rip, cut or shred something up...but there’s also an absurdity and contradiction, as we still haven’t entirely parted with that work either.
"Every artist and photographer has issues with storage – it's liberating to rip, cut or shred something up...but there’s also an absurdity and contradiction, as we still haven’t entirely parted with that work either."
Creating an active dialogue with visitors and viewers of the show seems to be at the heart of the exhibition - shown by literally putting them between photographers and subjects - what was important to you about making this point?
The exhibition is part of the Brighton Photo Fringe which we both very passionate about. The organisation actively encourages inclusivity and engenders a generosity between artists and audience. MacDonaldStrand Presents purposely creates an arena where audiences are asked questions about photography and how it acts in their lives. Every exhibit in the show gets back to a question in the end.
The works of George and Pat Beacher involved creating a totally fictitious world to embed the images within - what was the process of creating their existence and then their project?
The Beachers came into existence as a result of a commission for Krakow Photomonth - Oliver Chanarin and Adam Broomberg were curating the festival. Our Alias was the Beachers, a word play of the German photographic partnership the Bechers. We have always found balancing an interesting pass-time and thought it would be interesting to extend this into a series of images. There is also an entire back-story built around the Beachers concentrating on their strange courting rituals, but, most compellingly, the idea that they pre-dated the British conceptual art movement in photography (Arnatt, Hilliard, etc.) by at least a decade.
You have done fashion photography in the past, including work for AnOther Magazine - how do you find the processes differ if indeed, you believe they do?
Ideas are at the center of our work, whether we are working on a fashion shoot, making a book or making an artwork. It's all the same process, there are just differing logistics, demands and processes. We don’t really think of modes of practice in a hierarchy – there is just work that makes you think and work that doesn’t.
MacDonaldStrand Presents is at The Regency Town House, Hove, from October 11-14, as part of the Brighton Photo Fringe.
Text by Tish Wrigley
