{"id":589,"date":"2018-09-18T11:42:28","date_gmt":"2018-09-18T11:42:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.sju.edu\/gallery\/?p=589"},"modified":"2019-08-21T21:42:18","modified_gmt":"2019-08-21T21:42:18","slug":"shelter-photographic-installation-by-andy-mattern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.sju.edu\/gallery\/2018\/09\/18\/shelter-photographic-installation-by-andy-mattern\/","title":{"rendered":"“Shelter” photographic installation by Andy Mattern"},"content":{"rendered":"

February 18 \u2013 March 21, 2019<\/h4>\n

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Shelter<\/em> is a project visualizing time spent underground in Oklahoma storm cellars. These cool, dim spaces are both havens and tombs.\u00a0 Mattern uses the cellar as a life -size camera with the air vent as the lens.\u00a0 The result is an abstract arrangement of celestial circular forms mimicking these cellars that punctuate the landscape of the mid-west.<\/p>\n

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Andy Mattern utilizes unique methods of photography to create the images found in \u201cShelter.\u201d The storm cellars, so prevalent in the central United States, act as Mattern\u2019s \u201ccamera.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0Mattern uses the air vent as the camera lens; pressing light sensitive paper up to the vent allowing the only available light to filter through creating a lone image. \u00a0What emerges is a rather unusual image, a black and white abstract orb.\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cIt is barely even an image,\u201d says Mattern, \u201cyet the images capture the impression of the place, with the focus being on the interior.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\"\"<\/p>\n

The name \u201cShelter\u201d refers to the fact that this project took place inside of Oklahoma storm cellars, or storm shelters, where local people take refuge during tornadoes. In this exhibition, the photographs are intentionally scattered to mimic an aerial view of Tornado Alley in Oklahoma. This was a new experience for Mattern, one where he \u201cfelt like a tourist,\u201d as he had never been inside of a tornado shelter before this project. \u00a0Having to go door to door asking to be let into the cellars, Mattern soon found a \u201cwelcoming environment\u201d in this unfamiliar location.\u00a0 He notes that this new, albeit scary, location allowed him to feel connected to the community around him.\u00a0 Perhaps this speaks to this universal understanding of shelter, and the consolation it can bring in the most dire of circumstances.<\/p>\n

~ Maggie Nealon, \u201820
\nGallery Exhibition Research Assistant<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\"\"\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\"\"<\/p>\n

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