Photographs and objects

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Beth Baylin (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
Carl Goldstein

Abstract: My thesis consists of photographs and objects which can be divided into two categories. The first is a group of pictures taken in department stores of women's wear and accessory displays and a series of store mirrors. Also Included with these photographs are several actual displays which I have fabricated. In the second group, photographs are juxtaposed with real objects outside the picture in the gallery space. The department store "still-lifes" have for me an artificial, absurd, surreal quality which I hope becomes more apparent by removing them from their context through photographs. I am not trying to explain but just to present. I enjoy finding these displays which others have made. When I was painting I always disliked setting up a still-life and preferred finding things which already had a place. I am documenting vignettes of fashion and taste which are always changing. A display has a short life, and is soon replaced by something newer and more seasonal. The combination of a few objects can express values, taste, class and personality. Judgements are made in constructing these displays which speak to the consumer public. I am interested in these hidden messages. The mirror photographs deal with a feeling of displacement that I experience in these large, rambling stores. I am always getting turned around, feeling lost, catching myself in mirrors thinking at first it is someone else. Mirrors become like doors and doors become like mirrors.

Additional Information

Publication
Thesis
Language: English
Date: 1977

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